Once Upon a CURSE
by Q-A the Authoress
Summary: In the fishing town of Berkenshire the only real eyesore there was that ruined castle by the cliffs. But nobody was interested in seeing it gone with the rumors of a monster living inside. Astrid Hofferson was both the first and last person to ever go in... what she found led to the discovery of a centuries old curse and an unexpected friend with a kept secret. Modern AU Scotland.
1. Diary of a Beastly Prince

**Q-A The Authoress: **So…. This is my first story in the _How to Train Your Dragon _category and I must admit I'm very excited to be writing this. From reading a ton of beast/beauty stories out there I'm really hoping this one turns out well. This isn't my first AU story but this is one that didn't belong to someone else before hand so this is pretty much my brainchild so treat it kindly guys with as much constructive criticism as you can. ^-^

**Disclaimer: **I own none of the characters. It belongs to _DreamWorks _and the fantastic writer _Cressida Cowell. _Support them all guys 'cause I'm sure all of us would like to see a trilogy out of the films or even more if we demand it. Who knows?

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**Diary of a Beastly Prince**

_August 22__nd,__ 1810~_

'_Sometimes the reason we start out the way we are is so we can discover how to be something entirely different.'_

_Those were the words my mother soothingly whispered in my ear after my father scold me. It would be years, and years later until I understood the double meaning behind those words. _

_I was never a rebellious child whilst growing up. I was simply never allowed to go outside. 'Stay indoors, Son.' 'Never go outside, son.' It was always the same. Of course you should think I had no real incentive as to wanting to leave a castle with a _striking _courtyard in the center, or the tomes of books down in the South Wing. I would have to be mad enough for wanting to leave…_

_Please note the mockery that I was penned for that last line. _

_While I do not unnecessarily resent living here I still wish I had some liberty at least. The freedom to run outside and play were one of the many wishes never granted to me. Despite that my parents do everything in their power for me to be happy. Or at least look and sound like I am happy. When you are the heir of an ancient and most influential clan and the son of the village's leader you get just about anything… all except what you truly want. But all inner conflictions aside, I DO know the reason behind their worried glances and dismayed expressions. _

_I had always thought when I was younger it had something to do with my inelegant skills and awkward form. I am not anywhere near the fighter my father is. Even lifting the lightest of swords dragged most of my upper body weight to the ground. I never blamed Mother for this, for I was born prematurely than most infants on the cold 29__th__ of February. It would actually be considered a miracle I even lived that long after since a maid tried to kill me with a book laying near my crib. Her motivations behind it and the more abnormal whims of my parents led to me asking them one question when I was of an age to retain that memory. _

'_Why must I be indoors when sundown approaches? Even when in the courtyard I must be sent straight to my room?' _

_I hear a rap at the door. Mother is calling me to supper. I must take flight! If I did not make haste it would be rude to keep the Lady waiting. _

* * *

_August 23__rd,__ 1810~_

_O' how time passes _swiftly_ here in my lowly tower, the hours are eaten away in a mere instant. Note once again the cynical tone I had just penned. I was sent into my room for most of the day as Father had guests arrive at the castle. Perhaps 'guests' is too strong of a word and uninvited shrews would be the more precise words of choice. They were inexplicably rude to father according to what Mother told me not too long ago. I would not have known unless she had told me, you see. I was stuck up here in my tower. My mind wanders into thinking of a dangerous thought. Would it be considered precocious of me to climb down the ivory vines to make my escape? _

_Probably not. Those vines would not hold me even with my thin waist. _

_Again my mind fails me when I have yet kept my promise from the previous night. I was to tell you more of what had happened that one night when I was nearing my fifth year. _

_We all sat around the grand fireplace with me sitting upon my mother's lap and father sitting opposite on his big sturdy leather chair. I had asked both my parents the infamous question that nearly petrified them on the spot. Poor things._

_My mother was the first to recover as she spoke in her tone only reserved for me. Or at least she tried to sound like that, her voice sounded thickly as her eyes were threatening to bulge out of their sockets. "W-what has made you ask such a question, son?"_

"_I can't go outside and I wanna go play with other children." It seemed like the most obvious answer in the world even if I did not realize to have been whining._

_When my parents exchanged looks with one another they shared one expression that I could only describe as something mixed between aggrieved and fear and acceptance, almost as though they knew my question would soon come. _

_My father spoke in his usually gruff voice when he began to tell the tale. His voice always sounded very deep and rumbled in a way that made me slightly intimated by him, but once I grew older I would see how broken it sounded. Anyway back to his story. Well not before a brief history lesson from him…. my father needed to learn that a five year old's attention span could only linger for a short amount of time. _

_Berk-en-Shire has always been called home ever since our earliest Viking ancestors settled here by the wave crashing arches that littered the bay and one thick forest near the east. It never once occurred to them that living near cliffs that were hundreds of meters above the coast probably would not be easy for fishing, but those were the Vikings for you, it was a hazardous occupation; it was do or die in their lifestyle which honestly has not changed in the last several hundred years. _

_The people of Berk-en-Shire love living in these hostile conditions, according to Father, they never thought of leaving the so-called proud land they worked so hard into claiming. Nor did any of them once thought of leaving after the apparent infestation plaguing that piece of land. Most villages had to deal with mice, or irksome insects that liked biting you on places that should be remained unmentioned; we had something worse, far worse than anything else. _

_Brace yourself journal as I utter the shocking truth. _

_Dragons._

…_. Even when I was small I quickly assumed my father was lying. I have never seen a dragon before, even from the top of my tower, and made the assumption at an early age that they were only true on the pages of books I enjoyed reading. But he was insistent along with my mother that dragons did indeed live in our village or at least somewhere near it since they always arrived abruptly in the middle of the night. They always went after our livestock and other foods we had gathered from fishing and gaming. Blunt force was necessary to fight the beasts and prevent them from stealing more food. Father was naturally the best at killing dragons with his hammer. I for one believe he could easily take one down with his bare hands, but that is my opinion and I am sadly getting off topic again. _

_Anyway, father told me that during his generation as a dragon killer he and the rest of the slayers began to notice that there was one dragon that appeared different than the rest. It never stole any food, never showed its true outline for anyone, and NEVER__ missed its target. This dragon was different than the rest because it could plan, calculate, think in a way that's probably inhuman (obviously), and never fails at its tasks at hand. It was easy to say that this mysterious dragon for its stealth and leadership skills, something that my father begrudgingly admitted the dragon held, led the other dragons. Eventually my father and the rest of the hunters planned a way to capture or kill the beast they had later on called the Night Fury. Why it was given a name like that is a mystery to me, father claimed that it was based off some Norse demon from the olden days that was the offspring of lightning and Hel itself and-sorry getting off topic again._

_The village settled with their plan on Christmas week in the year 1795. Exactly three months before I was born._

_The plan itself was rather simple but clever. Simple because most of it involved leading the Night Fury toward the main village square toward a fishing net the size of a house. Clever, because the net was made with thin metal fibers that was so small and minuscule that even a house fly would get stuck in it. I never actually seen the net but I am taking my father's word for it especially for what is to come. Since it was my father's brilliant plan to capture the Night Fury he had the honor of ripping its heart out, killing the beast with one slash from a dagger. The very moment he plunged his hand into the dragon's bosom a large shriek was heard. _

_I had asked if it came from the dragon when I interrupted for the umpteenth time during his story but father said no, he spoke with his tone slightly mournful at that point in time, almost as though he felt regretful for killing the dragon. I of course know the reason why he was mournful._

_The painful shriek came from a small woman pushing through the crowd that swarmed to see the Night Fury at long last. She was the most ghastly apparition he had ever seen, my father said. Her hair was sickly pale white as was her skin that appeared as though to be nothing but skin and bones. Her eyes had a glazed over look that might have once been the color blue but were shriveled up along with the rest of her form. She half-dragged herself toward the platform where my father and the dragon was and glared half-blinded at him. _

'_Stoick Haddock, the Vast, Chief of Berk-en-Shire!' she cried in a ghostly wail. 'You had taken the life of one that cannot be replaced. This poor being did nothing to deserve this fate.'_

_Of course Father thought differently. 'I did what needed to be done to save this village.' His words were accompanied by the supportive cries from the other villagers, they almost drowned out what the old woman spoke until she shouted, 'If this is how you judged others by their appearance alone then look at your slain beast a second time!'_

_My father turned to look and was beyond shocked to see the form of a naked man took the place of the Night Fury. _

_It was at this part of the story that my mother wanted to stop the story, but my eagerness outweighed her worry, even though she had a good reason for it. _

_When my father in the story turned his attention back to the witch she already vanished from his sight. She appeared over the village's stone archway that was the town's entrance, the arch I can barely make out from my viewpoint in the tower. The witch stood erect with her eyes blazing red while pointing menacingly at my father. _

_She spoke the immortal words that changed not only my father's life and my mother's but also myself. _

'_As my son has lost his life, so shall yours!'_

_In a flash of lightning she vanished once again. Nighttime has finally arrived as the sun has set. I must go for another night with my parents. I hope to write to you soon._

* * *

_August 24__th,__ 1810~_

_For the next three months my father had the village and lands surrounding it patrolled for the witch and kept the Haddock estate guarded day and night. Not even my mother was allowed to leave the castle while she was heavy with child, though it was a harsh winter that year with it holding on with both hands and not wishing to let go. The words that the witch spoke still rang in my father's ears since that infamous night and it seemed no one slept peacefully as no one knew how the witch would strike. A few guessed that the witch would come into the bed chamber of my parents room and kill my mother-once more she insisted to my father that telling the story in, pardon the phrase, bloody detail would not be wise for my age. Once again I insisted I was fine with hearing the tale with no abridgement. With a reluctant sigh my mother conceived defeat-another more superstitious guess was that the witch had already done her work and may have poisoned the not yet born child while it was still in the womb. I am very glad to know that many of these rumors proved to be false. Sadly I think having me be a stillborn would have been a better fate than what the witch truly did to me. _

_I was born prematurely on the 29__th__ of February in 1796 on a blisteringly cold winter's morning, so cold that people believed that Jack Frost was contracting frostbite as well. Despite my small size and early birth the midwife announced me as a healthy babe, my parents rejoiced with _blessing _me with the name Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. Not the worst name ever given but it was one that belonged to two other strong Viking ancestors of mine. I have yet to learn anything about them but I digress. Sadly the extra precautions and vigil watches that were appointed after my birth were all for naught. _

_On the next morning right before sunrise my parents woke to a clatter next door to the room where I slept. They both heard the shouts from a woman and quickly ran to see what was the ruckus all about. When they saw her hands wrapped protectively around a thick Holy Bible in her hands as she pointed a finger toward the fallen cradle. My father became equally hysterical as her and grabbed her shoulders accusing her of being the witch's accomplice until my mother found the truth behind young maid's frightened form. Inside the cradle was a small lankly little creature with black scales covering every part of the skin with small patches of lighter black appearing as splotches. Wings with the shape of a bat protruded off of the back and two smaller ones on the tail and fins at the tip. Sharp talons clawed where fingers were supposedly meant to be while small plates appeared around the head. The only things that prevented the little beast from being killed on sight was that on its head was a small tuft of auburn hair and the eyes matched the same color as my father. Yes, that little beast of a dragon, a miniature Night Fury, the unholy offspring of lightning and death was I. _

_It was the predestined fate for my existence, to become a literal terror before even reaching the age of two every night while I became human at dawn until sunset. There was nothing that could be done to change me. My parents used everything in their power to summon the finest physicians, healers, mystic shamans, everything to find a cure. They had to pay hefty fines to keep the guests from talking about my…. 'condition.' They even fired all of the servants and paid them handsomely to not blabber on about my appearance, while my parents prevented me from leaving the castle by any means. _

_It was at the age of five I began to understand why I was so different. I was forced to stay inside the castle grounds and remain in the walls. My parents would not change like me, as I was the only person who could. It only got worse as time went by. I had learned from the 'guests' that kept arriving to the castle were actually representatives from the village stating that they were beginning to think that my father was unfit to lead them as he and his wife had became very inclusive since they started mourning for my death. No I am still alive, do not be alarmed journal, my parents simply lied that I had perished during the cold winter-that just proves how _loving_ they were to me by telling the world that I had died sickly and was cremated not too long after. _

_With my father being more reclusive with each passing year it is not hard to understand why the people wished for a change in leadership, but like our ancient Viking bylaws, a leader needed to be chosen from the same family that currently leads the tribe. A very old and dated practice in my opinion-I have always been a supporter of that democracy that those United States have been using but once again this is my opinion and not at all important to the story._

_It became a long lasting argument until the 27__th__ of July that my father at the age of forty-two finally abdicated the position of village chief to his distant cousin Algrick Ogglebert, a man I thankfully never had the pleasure of meeting face-to-face. Not that my father would allow it anyway but I always heard that dear cousin 'Al' was not the nicest person to get acquainted with. On the bight side the Haddock estate remained part of our land since we were still technically Haddocks while Al was not. So that turned out all right in the end, right? _

_Sadly I will disclose that it-not much of a surprise-only got worse. Or at least I think something must be wrong with me since I have been feeling quite odd for sometime now after my birthday last February. I have yet to convinced my father and mother but with a little more time I think my theory will be proven true._

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**Q-A: **And before you ask no, it's not over, not by a long shot. I must say I am very proud of this chapter. :D Probably the best first chapter I have written in a while. I do not know when I shall update on the next one but I will do my best since this is as far as I can go with this chapter for right now. I do hope you guys will be kind enough to review this story and give me all the feedback you can and I shall respond to the best of my abilities. ^-^

Keep on Writin' and Rockin'


	2. Confessions of a Teenage Cute Bruiser

**Q-A: **Here we go with chapter 2. I must say I did not expect such a quick response and wave of favorites from so many people just after day 1. *Tears up overdramatically* You must all really like me. (;

This is a shout-out to _ .ryder__, _I am very glad you liked the first chapter. I am sorry that Hiccup sounded a lot different than normal but trust me when I say that won't last for long. XD

Here's another for _Ami._ I'm afraid I can't tell you what is going to happen in the story because if I did it would ruin the plot. XD

And a reminder to my devoted viewers out there, I won't get a lot of chances at writing the next two months with college about to start up for me. XP Sucks doesn't pay its writers. I would do it forever if I could. Shame there aren't any HTTYD fanfiction on _ , _they actually pay the fanfic writers there.

**Disclaimer: **None of the characters are mine. The story is from my own thought process though. :)

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**Confessions of a Teenage Cute Bruiser**

August 23rd 2010~

_If 1 and -1 are all equal to each other, then what is the final number in the respective cubes?_

A pair of blue eyes rolled at the question while one hand tapped against the wooden desk. It was only the second week of school and the math teacher still played out the easy questions, or at least they were to Astrid even though she wouldn't admit it in public. Still, math was her least favorite subject so far with it being the most boring out of her other ones.

Everyone was warned that Fourth Year would get alarmingly difficult as each week passed. So far Astrid felt less nervous about her classes, she was more ticked off than anything else. She wanted some kind of challenge from her teachers, not be treated like some knob that didn't know the difference between a bashyball to a futball **(1)**.

She was smarter than this.

Astrid quietly decided to put the blame on her classmates; they always slowed her down since as long as she could remember. By force of habit Astrid peered over toward her peers gave them short glances after her eyes trailed off to read the clock for the umpteenth time that period.

The gargantuan Ingerman boy, nicknamed Fishlegs, was re-reading a problem over. Knowing him Astrid had a feeling he was looking it over just to be certain that he wrote the question correctly. He was already done with the worksheet.

To Astrid's left was the complete opposite of Fishleg's physique, Tuffnut. He was the fraternal twin brother to her friend, Ruffnut Thorston.

…..

Their parents weren't the best when it came to naming their kids. Mrs. Ingerman was a runner up in the weak naming department too apparently.

Tuffnut looked bored out of his mind and looked busy with picking at a scab on his arm. Gross. Behind Astrid was another guy she (regretfully) knew. The same guy that currently checking her out in the annoying way. Snotlout Jorgenson.

_If he is still looking at my arse I'll go kick his in Bashyball practice today. _Astrid thought with a pleased smile as she finished the final question (zero) just as the bell rang.

The sound of chairs scrapping against the hard floor echoed while students hastily shuffled their notebooks into their respected rucksacks and scrambled up to the door while the teacher attempted to get their test packets. **(2)** Astrid hurried with her supplies as well but intentionally left her paper on the teacher's desk. There were two reasons she wanted to get out quickly; English was the next and final period of the day…and to avoid Snotlout's weak attempts at flirting. Astrid wasn't successful at the latter.

"So my parents let me change the basement into a gym last weekend and I reckoned you like working oot, you look like you work-" Snot-face didn't have time to finish his sentence when the onslaught of Second Year students went stampeding through the hallways again. It was moments like this Astrid liked that all the First Years through Sixth Years shared the same building.

"Whoops that looked like it hurt." The young and forever energetic Camicazi quipped. She emerged from the S2 students. She spent most of her time upperclassmen mostly insisting that they were better company ("But them boys are sure baheid half of the time."). The short wild haired blonde peered over to Snotlout-still face down on the floor-and scrunched her nose.

"I knew you were wantin' to find a lass to winch with but I didn't know you'd go after the floor." **(3)**

The beefy jock scowled unattractively at the girl. "Who asked you tae come here?"

"She followed the crowd like everybody else, duh?" Ruffnut appeared moments later with an amused smirk permanently etched on to her face. She stood over to her brother seconds later and punched his shoulder affectionately. Tuffnut, not being the sharpest axe in the weaponry, assumed she wanted to fight and not too long after they both began to argue and aggressively wrestle each other. Fishlegs tried to get between them but did little with him rarely going into brawls. Another typical day in the Berkenshire Secondary School.

The whole gang was altogether now, Astrid mused after doing a mental headcount. Well except for another girl that sometimes hung out with them, Heather, but she was in Biology for her final period. English was the last class for the rest of them…except for-

"Why are you even here?" Snotlout narrowed his eyes at Camicazi. He was still upset over the comment and trampling from earlier.

Camicazi stuck her tongue out and crossed her arms. "I can be where ever I want, do what I want, when I want."

"Don't you have yer own math class to go to though?" Fishlegs asked finally after he gave up breaking Ruffnut and Tuffnut apart.

The speed count on Camicazi was obliterated less than a second as a speeding devil zoomed through the halls causing several underclassmen to dodge away by jumping through the windows.

_Yep a typical day like always._ Astrid thought dryly as she ignored the resumed chattering in the hallway and walked casually to her next class.

* * *

English was a class that Astrid had no problem tolerating but had some trouble with. It wasn't that she couldn't do the reading assignments or dictating the meaning behind a word but the analyzing characters she struggled with. She rarely cared about what other people did, as she preferred to be in the action instead of watching it. What could she possibly gain from reading some story about a person doing some verb when she was able to do it herself? She didn't have a problem reading-unlike a certain set of twins-she could tolerate it, Astrid just wish there was something more interesting to read than the dull texts assigned in class.

But still, English was an acquired subject for her to do if Astrid wanted to get out of Berkenshire and leave the sleepy fishing town and out to _Moray University _with a sports scholarship as her free ride. Anything had to be done in order for her to be free from the simple town she lived in, and that meant passing English.

_At least the teacher here is a lot more fun than everyone else. _Astrid thought with a slightly positive attitude.

"Awrite, awrite aw of yoo settle down." A gruff voice called out over the loud whispering in the classroom. A man clearly passed middle age deepened his puckered brow when he noticed that the students still weren't paying attention to him. Astrid watched with a hidden smile at what the English teacher was about to do next. Remembering the events from a previous class she covered her ears and waited for the hammer to fall.

Literally.

Ten seconds later a large thump louder than a balloon popping that would somehow become amplified and rage into a sonic boom. Astrid was spared from the infamous five-minute ringing in her ears if she had not placed her hands over her ears. Her eyes glanced to see the teacher smiling triumphantly as he casually placed a spiked hammer under his newly dented desk.

"Now let's try this again…. good afternoon class." He threw them all a large toothy grin that easily revealed one or two false teeth.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Belch." The class echoed back with shaken tones.

"Didn' I say I prefer Gobber? Callin' mea Belch makes meh sound old... Well old**er** at least." The last comment earned him a few snickers. Astrid rolled her eyes playfully for once, as she and the most of the students were use to the interchangeable limbed man's behavior.

Gobber Belch was someone to have seen many things in his lifetime. He was the kind of man who would weave you a whole story in one sitting no matter how accurate it the story started out or ended. Everyone in the town knew him as the jack-of-all-trades. He was a fisherman at one point (lost his limbs to sharks, forcing him to retire from fishing mackerels with the rest of the men) while also an expert handyman for hire. He was also a teacher at the school since Astrid and the others were little. In a way he was practically a surrogate uncle to most of them, but that didn't mean he cut anyone slack. After all a person like Gobber can't be a big softie when it comes to being the coach for Bashyball.

Astrid held back a smirk as she remembered her vow to wipe the floor on the field later. She was defiantly going to be belter on the field **(4)**.

"Naw I hope ye all remembered what I asked ye aw tae think over the weekend," Gobber spoke with a knowing grin; he expected most of them forgot the project that he mentioned the previous week.

_Crap, what was it he wrote on Friday? _Astrid felt her right hand twitch slightly to where her rucksack was which inside held her planner. She wasn't going to make a scene and grab it like some idiot. Fishlegs beat her to the punch though when he made a scramble for his bag that nearly wiped half of his supplies off his desk. He smiled sheepishly after a round of laughter came from the students around him.

Gobber gave them all a dark look that quickly shut them up. "Fer those of you 'o don't remember we're-mean you aw, not me-going to be doin' a little writing project for the whole term that'll be turned into a essay."

Astrid along with rest of the class unanimously groaned at the news.

"Glad to see you aren't containing yer enthusiasm for the project." Gobber replied with the same attitude from before. "Cummoan you miserable mollusks, you aren't supposed to get this depressed 'til ye reach mah age." He chuckled once more. "Now let meh tell ya more about the project and then you aw can groan."

Gobber elaborated more on the assignment that it was meant to be this journal writing prompt for the class to do everyday and write everything that happened around them. Each prompt had to be a page long (front and back, more outcries came from this-mostly where the Thorstons' desks were at), had to be completely truthful so no made up stories (Fishlegs cringed at the one) and was worth ten percent of the term's grade. Astrid grumbled at hearing that.

She couldn't believe the luck she was given. Why did it have to be such a mundane chore? Astrid was an action girl, sitting around on her behind to write was not her style. Also she had no idea what to write about. Astrid Hofferson hated to admit a weakness but she was never a creative person.

_Good thing I won't be the only one suffering through this whole experience. _The sounds of disgruntled sighs were heard all around her.

"So let's get started on Chapter 4 and review shall we?"

_Why can't I have normal homework to go along with this normal day?  
_

* * *

Astrid stuffed her tie away into her locker after removing her school uniform and replacing it with her sports gear. Bashyball required a player to wear shoulder pads, shin guards, elbow pads, and pumps that looked more like standard issued military boots than gym shoes. **(5) **

Back in the old days, according to Gobber-the fabulist wonder-he and his classmates never had to wear them, but some parent six years ago got all whiny about their child being placed in the emergency room one, two, many times and 'precautions' had to be made. Right when Astrid shoved her vomit-green tie away toward her matching plaid skirt and white blouse ("God, why can't I just wear trousers like the guys?" Astrid had once complained at Ruffnut. "I swear someone must've been watching one of those Asian cartoons when they fabricated this washcloth here.") her book bag fell out, spilling several textbooks and one journal.

Astrid picked up the journal last with the first page mockingly opened in front of her. Her blue eyes hardened at the current date written out on the right hand side. Why did this have to be such a chore? Nothing came into mind for what she could write.

_Maybe I should think of this like _Facebook_ since that's what going in Gobber's head right now. _With this newfound idea Astrid took out a pen from her bag and wrote out her first prompt for the assignment.

_8/23/10 _

_This afternoon when classes ended I went to Haddock Field to practice Bashyball… this is STILL a gammy project to do. _

_-Astrid Hofferson _

Not worthy for a nomination for the _European Prize for Literature _but it was a start. Astrid pushed the journal and her bag back into the locker as she walked off for practice.

_Hopefully Gobber will be the only one that reads the journal. Can't have any more rubbish spoken aloud about me. _Astrid thought with prospect_._

The last thing she needed was people to know the real her.

* * *

**Q-A: **For a little bit of clarification for you non-Scotts out there, the education system in Scotland with this year system that is used in the United Kingdom. S1 is short for First Year, which is the age between 11-12 while S6 stands for Sixth Year obviously and is for the 17-18 year olds. In this story I try to imagine most of the teenagers in S3 for 13-14 years olds with one or two exceptions. :D Cami being one of them of course.

**(1) Knob – idiot **

**(2) Rucksack is a backpack **

**(3) Kissing with tongues**

**(4) Belter – fantastic**

**(5) I kid you not. Another name for gym shoes in Scotland is pumps. But for you odd ones out there you can imagine them as high heels. XD Wouldn't that be a fun sport to watch? **

And remember guys I won't be able to do a lot of writing until the end of November when the college quarter is done for me. XP

Keep on Writin' and Rockin'


	3. Castlemania

**Q-A: **Almost ten reviews after only two chapters. :D Gah, again you put feelings into my heart that makes me smile. Squee! Who else is excited that Dragons: Defenders of Berk is just around the corner? I know I am. For those of you who have finally wanted to see Hiccup again (and meet Astrid X3) you'll get that opportunity here! Yay!

**Disclaimer: **Nothing. I own nothing. If I did, I mostly would make the Vikings build a worshiping shrine for Toothless in either HTTYD2 or the third one. Or even make the film series longer than three films. :D

* * *

**Castlemania**

Astrid was a beast...

At least on the field, and if you ever accused of her being fierce off the field though, well actually she would affirm that accusation without a beat. Though calling her weak would definitely land you with a broken nose, just ask Tuffnut. It happened to him about a week actually-Enough character development! Back to our favorite cute bruiser chucking a thick yak bladder skinned ball at unsuspecting victims.

Ooh~ she finally got her revenge on Snotlout as he fell to the ground with his hands covering his face. That had got to hurt.

Running around and tackling people to the ground was Astrid's element, something that she would never brag about of course. Bashlyball required the skill and brainpower of a five year old to play, so it wasn't rocket science. It was the very taunt that Camicazi enjoyed calling out to the boys when she had to sit at the bleachers. She was too young to play the game according to school ruling. Even with whiny and biting from her mother Camicazi had to wait a full year for her turn on the field.

Bashyball practice started after school without a hitch. It was mandatory to take an extracurricular activity in order to graduate. While most students would slack on this particular graduation requirement until Sixth Year, Astrid and the rest couldn't wait to starting playing, all except for Fishlegs and Heather. Both of them had this weak excuse claiming they wanted to live by their Fifth Year. They usually took the spots on the teams that involved the 'less aggressive' action as they put it.

_A real game is only fun when you get a scar out of it after all._ Astrid thought palpably while dodging Tuffnut's side kick to her left.

The sport itself is played in a similar manner like rugby with the opposing teams clashing each other in a large dog pile-like method at the beginning of each round. The Irish sport, Caid, is almost identical to Bashyball with players being allowed to carry the ball, hand passing, and bouncing it. **(1)**

The most popular move that was exclusively used in Bashyball was keeping-the-other-opposing-teammate-from-getting-t o-the-ball-by-pushing-it-into-their-face-and-grabb ing-the-ball-after-the-player-falls-unconscious… Hey it may sound like an illegal play but in Bashyball it is allowed since there are barely any ground rules to go against any harsh plays that could lead someone into the hospital.

….

Again why would Fishlegs and Heather dislike playing such a well-loved sport?

Weirdoes, that's what they are.

Speaking of Fishlegs, he was placed at the goalpost, as was Heather on the opposite side of the field. From Astrid's viewpoint, he didn't look too thrilled about being part of the game. The poor young man was shaking like a leaf with deer in headlight eyes widening every other millisecond. His expression worsened the very moment Ruffnut faked a left and then grabbed the ball under Astrid's nose. She was not happy with this turn of events.

Ruffnut grinned with glee after finally stealing the ball from her best friend. Sure Astrid was brilliant and all but when it came to Bashyball it became every lady and/or annoying brother for his or herself. She was nearing the goal post.

Almost there.

She could hear Astrid's angry yells behind her. Ruff needed to stay focused.

Almost, Ruffnut smirked when she saw a trembling Fishlegs. Just a few more yards-

"Yaah~!" Moments later Astrid toppled over Ruff and tackled the other blonde onto the ground, sending the bashyball spinning. With the speed and velocity faster than any Common Swallow (whether carrying a coconut or not) the ball flew right at Fishlegs like a gunshot. Surprisingly for him, Fishlegs was able to block the ball only for it to fly a meter or so up the air and land straight down into the long uncut grass nearing the Haddock Castle.

All eyes that had gaped at the zooming ball now landed at the looming fortress before the field. Nearly everyone had gob smacked expressions as the looked toward the grass. Fishlegs looked like he was ready to pass out.

"Well that's just bloody fantastic." Tuffnut glowered at Fishlegs before putting his attention back at the tall grass. "We don't have a ball anymore." He cursed under his breath after kicking a plate of grass off of the ground. Gobber wouldn't be too happy seeing some damage on the field, even if other people thought it was cursed too.

"We could ask Gobber for another one." The black-haired beauty named Heather suggested. Everyone looked at her with incredulous looks. "What?"

Snotlout snickered. "Sure we can and then later we'll all be hung by our toes in rusty chains outside of the town hall."

"I think Gobber was joking when he said that from the **last** bashyball we lost." Astrid replied with her tone staying neutral. Her eyes never left the castle grounds as she stared at the building with mild distaste.

"Someone's gotta go there and get it back before Gobber show's up." Ruffnut spoke in a voice that implied heavily she wanted to be the last person offered to go. Everybody in Berkenshire knew that Castle Haddock was a terrible place since the old legend told of something evil lurking inside.

"Don't look at me I'm not goin' in'." Tuffnut shoved his sister when she glanced at his way.

"Well I'm not either."

"Don't be such a wimp!"

"Better a wimp than dead!"

"Will you two knock it off?" Camicazi spoke moments later as she tumbled in to join the party. Her fearless stature looked over at the castle a few times before saying, "Ill go get the ball while you all act like little scared boys."

Fishlegs squeaked. "That wouldn't be such a good idea. Everyone in the village knows Castle Haddock is not foundationally sound to go in. It's like a 30 percent chance you might not come out alive."

"Sounds like a challenge to me." Camicazi spoke with the same spirit as before, not at all phased by the others concerns. She knew about the cursed castle but always though the legend silly and believed it was something grown-ups fibbed about in order to keep the children from having any real fun. Her fingers always itched to go inside and see if there were any lost treasures to plunder. Even at the ripe old age of thirteen Camicazi enjoyed playing pirate as the next overactive child.

A soft hand gripped the short girl's shoulder like a like a wolf clamping its teeth shut on prey. This was the 'gentle touch' of Astrid Hofferson.

"You are not going anywhere near that stone deathtrap, Cami'." Astrid swore. "We can't have your mum asking questions now do we?"

A collective shiver passed through most of the boys. Bertha Bog was the last woman anyone wanted to cross with. She was overprotective of her only daughter, claiming she was her last memento to her lost seafaring husband. It was common that most men lose their lives to the violent storms. Another good reason Astrid wanted to leave the quiet Shetland Island town, so to avoid any complications if someone she cared about got lost during a fishing trip. Not that she needed to rely on anyone of course. Still, the Bogs were good friends to the Hoffersons, and Astrid felt it was her obligation to watch out for Camicazi on and off school grounds.

"But I can really do it, really." Cami's eyes grew big, deliberately trying to sway Astrid into reconsidering.

The upperclassman was completely stern, and she shook her head. "No. It's better that I'll go do it."

"Are ye daft?" Ruffnut cried out in shock. "Nobody has ever gone into that castle and come out alive." Her expression was mixed between fear and total excitement. She secretly wanted to go into the castle to see if there really were some hideous beast that old stories talked about but then who was going to torment her brother if she ever died? Plus dying in an old castle sounded boring. Jumping off the cliffs for diving and possibly drowning, now that was exciting.

"Then I'll be the first." Astrid spoke coolly with complete confidence.

"The chances of you surviving will dwindle into single digits." Fishlegs tried to warn Astrid of the impending doom that was about to fall on her. Didn't she know that the castle had zero visitors and the more important part of it being cursed? Fishlegs never liked the stories his mother told him about the castle but he knew why she had to tell them. Everyone needed to stay clear of Castle Haddock, whether the old rumors were true or not Fishlegs decided he would be the last person to find out.

"If you die, Heather and I will be the only intellectuals in our group!" Fishleg's warning sounded more like a complaint this time around.

Snotlout grunted in anger and grabbed Fishlegs by his shoulders. "What did ya just say?"

"I'm guessing yer too much of a dobber to know 'big words'?" Camicazi said slyly while using air-quotes.

Ruffnut and Heather snickered while Snotlout pushed Fishlegs to the ground, as his face grew red. "Why ya little-"

The daily gang brawl commenced as Astrid walked away quietly. It was moments like these she appreciated half of her friends being complete testosterone-driven maniacs.

She walked through the tall grass with purpose as most of her waist was hidden away. Sometimes she needed to step on a rock to check that she was still walking to the right direction. When she stood on a fallen boulder-sized brick Astrid got a clear view of the castle. It was beginning to look bigger and more menacing than before.

Astrid never really liked the looks of Castle Haddock to begin with. Not even when she was a child, so when her mother and everyone else's mother told them all at the wee age to never go anywhere near the castle Astrid was more than eager to obey.

She wasn't afraid of its decrepit appearance with cracked stone walls, broken glass windows, moss covered drum towers, crumbling battlements that looked ready to collapse on any given moment and the larger than life size and stature that would be deemed impossible to duplicate even in modern times. She only thought that the whole thing looked unappealing. Okay the castle was not ugly to look at by any means it was clearly to look grand as well as fortified but Astrid simply disliked how it was different from the small brownish homes in the town. The only thing that was whiter than the castle was probably the mayor's estate. Clearly there was a theme in all this that Astrid could look over but didn't have the patience.

After what felt like an eternity Astrid finally arrived at her destination. From the viewpoint she had seen Astrid saw the bashyball fell far over the tall grass and landed somewhere closer to the castle. But many to her surprise she didn't see any traces of the ball's whereabouts on the castle grounds. When she spotted a broken window with a familiar round-looking shaped hole Astrid grumbled.

_This is it, no turning back._ Astrid pep-talked herself into walking to toward the front doors. Unlike most castles, this one had no front gates or giant walls to prevent anyone from invading. The only thing Astrid noticed that could probably keep people out was the large fortified battlement and a pair of two giant-arse doors that looked like they were made for some humongous troll in of the fairy-tales her mother use to read to her.

Astrid looked over at the two front doors with small awe and intimidation. They were made entirely out of wood that once upon a time must have been shining in a glossy coat now looked old and worn with some of the lumber chipping off but not molding in anyway. The carvings on the doors were beautiful to look at with magnificent carvings of Vikings attacking many foes. A few looked like Celts with accurate knots tied to their appearance in one way or another. Monks inspired by the medieval paints cowered before a bearded Viking that pillaged treasure from a small church and far more fantastic than any of those previously mentioned images were dragons.

Dragons that flew, breathed fire, charged at scowling Vikings, and stabbed repeatedly over and over. Astrid quickly adverted her eyes toward something less…graphic. One last image she looked at was of another Viking fighting a dragon that Astrid had trouble defying. At school they had a history class that lectured on the Vikings and their 'encounters' with dragons. It was completely pointless since dragons were of course not real but for some reason they were heavily embedded into Berkenshire's culture. All types of dragons were discussed but the one Astrid was looking at did not remind her of the copied texts she had seen in the schoolbooks.

_Keep your mind focused. We're not here to sightsee. Just 'cause this place is like the castle in Embra doesn't mean anythin.'_

Finalizing with the idea Astrid placed one hand on one of the doors and pressed on it. The moment her hand landed on the door it pushed forward and opened with a large enough crack that Astrid had no trouble walking in.

_Figures this castle has no lock. This place is more dated than half of Gobber's stories._ Astrid couldn't help but chuckle slightly at knowing how correct her statement was. Her voice echoed along the large room she appeared in making small shivers crawl back onto her again.

"No need to be scared. I'll just get the ball and bolt." Astrid silently cursed when she realized that she had no torch to light the way. She was forever grateful that the walls had plenty of windows for sunlight to be streaming in. "Odd… half of these appear to be made with stained glass."

The sound of metal falling startled Astrid, nearly making her jump up three feet in the air. She looked over at wild eyes and saw a suit of armor having collapsed.

"It's just some old metal that fell over itself, nothing strange aboot that… why am I talking to myself?" Astrid asked no one as she resumed walking. It was going to take a lot more than some old metal sheets to scare her. She walked further down the room with her daring stance barely shaken. Her eyes darted toward corners and other spots a ball would fall into but still found no traces of the aforementioned item. All she could see were woven tapestries that were the size of her house and large stone impressions of more Vikings. The ceilings had fine arches that some art history major would have swoon at the sight of.

This area might be a church if it weren't for all the Viking motifs. Astrid thought lightly as she looked at another tapestry by a window. She cursed audibly as the setting sun began to fade over the horizon.

I_t can't be that late already? All right fine, I'll just go look for the exit and go._

Astrid decided finally as she started to look for a way out. _Uhh, which hallway did I go through before coming to this room?_

For some reason Fishlegs' warning from earlier gave Astrid an unsettling feeling in her stomach.

* * *

_Okay this is starting to turn out really bad. _

Astrid was finally beginning to openly agree with Fishlegs for once. That right turn she took a few paces before ended her up in an entirely different location than the large hall she was in with the excellent tapestries. Now she had found herself in a narrow corridor with some light still streaming through tiny windows that were too small for Astrid to even bash her head through.

_I'm losing it; already I've thought three ways to escape this maze of a hellhole by harming myself. And I was talking aloud again._

Clearly something was odd about the castle since it felt like she was inside this place forever and yet only a few hours had passed. Still, by this point in time Astrid was sure the others were already starting to get worried. The sun was nearing the vanishing point, and the interior of the castle was already looking darker and creepier.

_**Why **didn't I bring my torch with me?_ Suddenly Astrid felt a warm blast of heat behind hind her that gave her goosebumps. She turned around fast to see a literal torch lit up on the side of a wall.

"What the-" the blonde mouthed until another torch was ignited a few meters after the first one. As her eyes, almost bulged out their sockets Astrid walked over to torch closest to her. She grew bewildered when she saw that the fire flickering glowed a bluish color for a bit until it became the standard red-yellow Astrid was more familiar with occurred again with more torches lightening up down a corridor. The same blue fire appeared on each torch momentarily until it became the familiar reddish-yellow color.

She blinked owlishly toward the fire for a few seconds until the strange phenomenon from earlier happened again with a dozen newly lit torches led a pathway down a new stone hallway. Clearly someone-or something was trying to help Astrid out. But do to her nature Astrid was hesitant into following the trail of lights.

_Those old stories about the Will O' the Wisps, Mum told me, are starting to look realistic... God what's wrong with me? Getting nervous over some silly fairy tales._

Astrid mentally berated herself. She was not in anyway a superstitious person. If she were... Well then she wouldn't even be in the castle in the first place. The logical reasoning behind all of this was that there was someone else in the castle and was trying to help her. Why they were doing it in such an odd way was beyond Astrid's understanding. Either way it was the only option she had left when her eyes saw that there was hardly any light from the window.

_Dad always told me to give someone a benefit of the doubt sometimes._

With no other options to go through Astrid had any other choice than to follow the burning torches, and if you asked her if she were silently praying they weren't being lit by little wisps then the girl would call you out for being mental.

* * *

As it turned out fallowing the torches was the best approach Astrid had done in the last few hours. She was still on her guard though as she tried to see her mystery lighter. Sadly she had no luck with finding any trace of another person in the hall with her. Astrid kept her eyes and ear peeled for a body hanging behind a corner or the sound of feet pattering. She also had trouble with figuring out how the torches were being lit with them somehow being brought out at the corner of her eye every time.

The sound of gushing wind started Astrid out of her thoughts when she realized that she was back in the front hall. She soon noticed the grand doors had opened in accompany to the gust that was heard seconds before. Astrid could almost make out the twilight sky through the crack and sighed in relief.

_Good this means I won't be missed yet._ She chuckled dryly. _I bet everyone else will have a huge laugh at this and... _

Her thoughts diminished a second time when she heard a large object fell a good arm's length away. Astrid cried out in alarm and spun around to see what almost landed on her.

Instead of fallen rubble or some misplaced Viking statue, Astrid saw the mangled mess of a body. The outline was rather intangible for her to see clearly, but it was without a doubt the form of a person. Astrid's heart jumped to her throat when she thought the person to be dead. It was a good three-story drop; it would be a miracle for anyone to survive that.

But a miracle is exactly what happened next.

A miracle mixed with shock. The body began to move on it's own and the head jerked to its best where Astrid stood. For a mere moment, blue eyes stricken with frightened awe were gazed at two feline orbs that matched the color of forest green. A deep forest that captivated the blonde. When Astrid blinked dust from the ruble from her eyes, she was surprised to see the pair opposite of hers blinked back. No sounds were made between them outside of soft breathing as Astrid tried to make grips of the situation.  
_  
I am inside a cursed castle where some undead cat-thing has led me out of here...almost_. This was all starting to get too much for Astrid to handle.

For one moment Astrid breathed out a loud sigh which the green-eyed being might have mistook for a sign of trust when a shadowed hand wanting to get into even more trouble than before and the adrenaline of fear fighting against her logic Astrid quickly darted from the hall and into the safety of the outside. She breathed heavily while waiting for her heart rate to lower down again. With a hand on her chest and a beating heart tattooing at the rib cage Astrid made a beeline for the tall grass.

Astrid didn't stop until she was back at the field's edge. Her body was far from the castle but her mind had remained there. _What was that person? How did he… or she survive that fall? What did they want?  
_

"So where is it?" Ruffnut asked, feigning boredom.

"Where's what?"

"You know the ball you were supposed to get."

Ever since she got lost in that maze like fortress the ball was the last thing on Astrid's mind. She shrugged feebly and muttered and apology while glowering at the ground.

"How did you get out of there alive?" Fishlegs gawked with his hands near his mouth.

"'Cuz she is a strong lass that can kick arse that's how!" Camicazi shouted exultantly,. She did not once notice the distant look on her here's face. "Astrid braved the castle and took the place by storm. Even if ye didn't find that ball you still found meh some treasure didn't cha?"

"Nothing happened, all right." Astrid snapped after everyone's chatter began to annoy her. "I couldn't find the stupid ball because it got too dark inside. If you want to go there and get it yerself, then go on in there."

Tuffnut shook his head and looked slightly frightened. "Uh-uh, there is no way I am goin' in there."

Ruffnut snickered. "Of course you would say that."

"Oh like you would go there yourself?"

"Only if I needed to."

"So let's say I throw you in-"

Heather pulled the two apart and gave them a blank stare. "You guys can't seriously be arguing at a moment like this? Not only do we not have a bashyball but Astrid almost got hurt in that castle."

Snotlout shivered. "Gobber won't be too happy to hear that."

"'Ear what, Snotlout?"

The high unsettling fear from before came back tenfold. Everyone turned around to see the last person they wanted to see. Coach Gobber did not look pleased as he eyed all of the teenagers. Heather sighed in annoyance, Camicazi stood petrified for the very first time since anyone could remember, the twins no longer looked like they wanted to fight anymore, Fishlegs appeared faint, Snoutlout gulped nervously and twiddled his thumbs.

Astrid kept her face expressionless; this was so far the least threatening thing she had witnessed all day.

* * *

The good news was that Snotlout had exaggerated when he warned about the punishment that Gobber would give them. The bad news was that instead they all had to run laps, even Camicazi despite the fact she was not even in Bashyball practice. The sun had set long before they were finished running. It was around 8 o'clock when most of them were either sweating buckets or their throats became dry as sandpaper. Gobber told them the even worse news that because the ball was lost and it was the last one they had in storage the odds of getting a new ball were very slim in. Practice would have to be closed indefinitely. No one, minus Fishlegs and Heather, was glad to hear this turn of events.

"This is so unfair." Ruffnut huffed angrily. "We all have been waiting to do this fer at least forever."

Astrid shook her head once; water from the showerhead threw against the tiled walls. "It wasn't that long, Ruff. We can always wait fer a new ball."

Ruffnut made an obnoxious cough. "Right, and I'm the mayor of this whole town. Face it we're not getting any special treatment just because we like to punch each other into the dirt." A small grin broke out on Astrid's face. Even when Ruff was pissed she still cracked a good joke or two. Another thought came as that grin quickly faded.

_Is this really the biggest concern all of us are facing right now?_ Astrid thought incredulous. _Have they all forgotten what happened just a few hours before with me? Granted, I told in the drop the subject, still I wish they could've at least as mentioned something similar to._

When Astrid felt more steam than water on her face she decided to get out. She turned off the faucets, grabbed a towel, and dried herself off as fast as she could. It wasn't long until the other blondes joined her at the sinks.

Camicazi was enveloped in her towel like a cocoon while she dried off her unruly locks. "Do ye think the boaby will get connected about what happened earlier?" **(2) **

Ruffnut shook her head no but also to dry her hair off. "Naw, I don't think Gobber would be that thoughtless to call them out. Stuff like that would immediately get the mayor drawn in."

"Ruff's right," Astrid agreed. "Mayor Sköll doesn't want anyone to go near that castle. Gobber knows what would happen if **he **knew…." she trailed off.

The washroom suddenly grew still as steam rolled over from the showers and smeared on to the mirrors. A knock came from the door, implying it to be Heather as she was indicating that it was her turn to shower. Since the bathroom could only hold three people at the time Astrid offered to leave. She grabbed the clothes from her gym bag.

Once her hair was pulled back into a tight braid Astrid left the showers and headed straight for home with her rucksack in tow. A very small perk of living in a village smaller than an actual suburb was that everything was close by, including the houses. In five minutes or less, Astrid arrived at her two-story generic white house with a picket fence. The only thing that made its outer appearance look less than perfect was that one piece of wood had been broken in half thanks to an incident involving a six-year-old Astrid with a tricycle. It became an unspoken rule in the Hofferson household to not place any pressure on the reduced beam.

But right now that little rule was being broken.

Astrid noticed something small, but shapely resting directly onto the broken fence board. Without another thought, she immediately went over to the fence piece and looked to see the unidentified object. Her mouth formed a small 'o' while she looked at the bashyball directly at her legs.

With the torch from her sack Astrid looked at the ball to inspect it for damage. What she found instead was a neatly folded yellow paper tucked right underneath the ball. The note had a waxed seal over the paper that was the color red and printed with an attractive stamp. A limbless dragon curled in a fetal position surrounded by a circle. Astrid carefully picked away at the symbol gently, wanting to save it for another day and opened up the letter. It was written in a fine cursive calligraphy that read,

_Good evening Loud-Screaming Girl, _

_May I suggest you keep a better eye on your ball? It fell underneath the castle where the basement lies. Do try kicking the ball more kindly next time, that way fewer balls are lost and FEWER windows get broken, moreover._

_Warm regards, the Caretaker of Castle Haddock. _

"Who the bloody hell wrote this?" Astrid looked at the letter incredulity. It was one of the most bizarre things she had ever looked at, let alone read. What was the note saying about a caretaker? In all the years Astrid lived in Berkenshire she heard nothing about someone actually living there. She was also beginning to get worried, that the green-eyed person from before must've learned about her enough to know where she lived. Oh god, a person was living in the castle and they knew her home address!

...

_Wait, did this smart-arse really call me 'Loud-Screaming Girl?' And 'the Caretaker' had the guts to be sarcastic? I almost got lost in that hellhole and I'm the one being criticized? _

Astrid was beginning to feel less frightened and more annoyed with this caretaker-person. Whoever he or she was they were going to deal with an angry Astrid. And nobody will be happy to see that.

* * *

**Q-A: **There we go with chapter 3! Wow wasn't, that, something huh? For those of you who are wondering, yes I molded the insignia for the note from the Berk crest that is used from the TV show and HTTYD 2 teaser trailer. It's on Hiccup's leather armor if you are wondering.

**(1) Caid is another name for Gaelic Football. It's not Scottish but I'm giving it a pass since Berkenshire is clearly not supposed to be a real coastal fishing village in the Scottish Isles.**

**(2) Embra is nickname for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. **

**(3) Boaby – police.**

**Keep on Writin' and Rockin'**


	4. When Will My Life Begin?

**Q-A: **Here we are with chapter 4! This is starting to sound very repetitive now. Well anyway for those of you who wanted more Hiccup (that slight hint from the last chapter wasn't good I know) we get him here finally. :D And another favorite of mine will show up. ^-^

**Responses to Guest Reviews: **

_Danna_: Thank you very much for the review. I am sorry for the confusion but I promise it will all be explained in this chapter.

_Dman 21_: I'm not sure what you found in the last chapter creepy but I am glad for your review all the same.

_Guest:_ I thank you for the review and hope to hear more from you soon.

_somebody:_ XD Ha, that had to be some of my best writing in the story so far. Just you wait for what other things get written.

_DarkKingM:_ yay! I'm happy you like the story so much so far. This one will be a lot of fun to read I promise you.

**Disclaimer: **If this was all mine…well it would be actually published. XD But hey maybe someday, with a few name changes, some change in plot direction… XDD Naw I wouldn't do that to all of you.

* * *

**When will My Life begin?**

It was very much official, he was going to die. That was the exact thought of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock…the Third. Why he was given such a name remains a mystery to this day.

He wasn't sure if it was going to be a literal death by the hands of a rampant mob or by the girl he had just encountered. Out of all the mistakes he could have made, allowing the girl to see him had to be the worst. She now knew that someone was living in the castle. A part of him hoped that the girl didn't see all him, but that sounded more like wishful thinking than anything else.

Hiccup wasn't all that sure what made him want to help the girl (he was starting to regret not knowing her proper name) in the first place. She willingly walked into his home and must have known about the so-called curse laid upon it and yet she strolled in like a walk through the courtyard. Clearly, the girl was the bravest person Hiccup had seen in over a century or the thickest being in the whole village. He quietly decided to go for the former. She was a brave… for human and certainly acted it for a good while but only for that amount of time. As the sun started to set Hiccup began to notice a few changes in the girl's behavior.

* * *

When she first walked through the threshold she had her shoulders back, hands on both sides, and held an expression that read, 'Stay far away from me if you know what is good for you.'

"No need to be scared. I'll just get the ball and bolt." The girl cursed under her breath for reasons unknown to Hiccup. "Odd… half of these appear to be made with stained glass."

_She sure likes talking to herself a lot. _Hiccup thought with slight amusement. She was no longer looking that scary anymore as her features grew little soft as she stared at the glowing light that came from the colorful glass.

She was someone Hiccup did not wish to mess with that was for sure. Yes, it was a sad moment for him when he realized that he was intimidated by a girl no taller than he was. But from the way she scowled Hiccup agreed in his mind that hiding behind corners, shadows, and staying completely out of sight was the best option for him…at least until he tripped near a suit of armor and caused the whole thing to collapse on itself.

By the Christian and Norse Gods, he was so inept to do anything right without making a mess first.

* * *

As the hours passed Hiccup began to notice the girl's bravado weakening. Her eyes would shift around to look at random parts of a hall she would pass. She would link her hands together only to break them apart seconds later, and she started to talk to herself. All these were the telltale signs that she did not want to remain in the castle.

Hiccup drew sympathy from this. He knew very well how dark and melancholic his home looked like at night. When the sun started to set Hiccup found an alternative to scurrying on padded human feet over stone floors. He hurried into an abandoned broom closet and unwillingly began the Transformation.

In the early years of his life Hiccup vaguely remembered a burning pain that encased around his skin. The feeling of his stomach churning and body twisting caused his legs to break down, leading the poor boy to struggle through the whole experience on a cold floor. All across his skin Hiccup would feel pricks pushing through him like the opposite effect of nails stabbing through his flesh. Black scales would replace his pasty-colored skin.

A pair of wings, a tail broke out from his back and tailbone respectively as oval plates would push through the sides of his face and head at an abnormal rate. Through this once painful process Hiccup would clench his teeth that retracted up into his gums and fell back in place as sharp fangs. His feet and hands sported talons sharper than knives all the while Hiccup started to see double as his eyes refocused moments later. The Transformation was over. A nightly ritual he had grown use to after so many, many years. It wasn't all that painful anymore with the exception of the slight stomachache, nothing else happened to him after that.

Once his newly formed slit-like eyes adjusted to seeing differently once more Hiccup stretched out his wings before he curled them around his shoulders in a manner very similar to a cape. That little trick took him two decades to get properly right and he was glad with the results. T'was a pity no one else would know of his accomplishments.

_And that's the way it should be. _Hiccup added gloomily to himself. He poked his through the room's archway and trained his ears to the sound of delicate feet pattering across the floor. He titled his head toward the ceiling and smiled at the archways that were there for decorative purposes but not support. From one flap of his wings Hiccup took a vertical takeoff into a glide and landed carefully on one of the false support beams.

_Honestly, the monks who lived here must have warned that a cursed dragon-boy would be living here in the future. _Hiccup bend forward to keep his balance and looked down at the girl.

He remembered the first time he spotted her walking inside the castle. From the way she was dressed he mistook her for some kind of warrior until he noticed the armor she wore was made from leather. She had some mud painted across a cheekbone. Her blue eyes focused at every corner of the hall. Her waist was slim but agile for a good fight with a few toned muscles that Hiccup sadly never possessed until he would transform.

He still carried many human-like attributes after the Transformation, but one thing that he always noticed that he would gain muscular arms and upper body strength. He made the assumption it was meant to hold up all the weight he received from the wings and other additions.

_Just one of the perks of being me._ Hiccup thought with heavy sarcasm. He resumed watching the girl as he started to notice her frightened traits again. _She really looks scared right now. _

Why can't she just leave?

What has possessed her to come here if she looks like she wants to be anywhere but here?

_Oh wait she mentioned something about retrieving a ball earlier. _Now that he held this newfound knowledge Hiccup gathered himself, uncurled his wings, and glided silently across the ceiling. If he was going to do his next move right he would have to be far enough from the girl so she would not be at a hearing distance.

* * *

When he arrived at a different hallway Hiccup lowered him to the ground and opened his mouth below a strange growl. The moment the wail was voiced Hiccup could hear and feel every vibration all over the land. He heard the tiny wing flap from a fly, a pebble breaking off from a brick, the concern mutterings from the girl, and the howling wind that blew through the decaying rafters. With the room slightly dark he also saw most of these activities occurring at the very moment. It was from that call Hiccup learned that the infamous ball was nowhere on that floor. In less than three seconds he accelerated from a normal pace into the speed of a big cat. By the end of the hall there was around room that inside held a spiral staircase.

A part of Hiccup felt the sudden urge slide down the banister. Remembering the mission Hiccup quickly scramble down the stairs not once tripping with all forepaws charging downward.

Less than a moment later Hiccup arrived at the basement. If there was one place Hiccup disliked being in than his own tower was the dark and cold underground of the castle. Hardly any light ever came down-save from the very few windows that existed down there-and was not a very pleasant place to be in. Feeling both aggravated and nervous Hiccup quickly cried out a second time to his echolocation. From suit of armor's, ripped rugs, aged wines, other missing valuables that were never accounted for, and one door that led another room Hiccup sensed a round ball. With no time to cheer ecstatically Hiccup rushed over between two old picture frames underneath a broken window and found a round sphere no bigger than a cannonball. Hiccup effortlessly picked the ball up in his hands and inspected it for any identification. His enhanced sense of smell picked up a small trace of the girl's sent.

_Human sweat mixed with a small hint of vanilla and nutmeg…hmmm. Ugh, some ripened Berk-Bog Roses! _Hiccup quickly shook his head to wake up and did everything in his willpower to forget the foul scent of a cowpat that had just wafted through his nostrils.

That's what he got sticking his nose into other people's business.

After reminding himself to stay focused Hiccup grabbed a satchel from a woven basket nearby and hurried back up the stairs.

* * *

From the same staircase used from before Hiccup prepared to climb out with the bag in tow. When his teen years picked up a new sound coming around a corner he lowered his head down and pressed his whole body towards the ground, instincts at full alert and his fangs bared. Moments passed before the girl was seen walking down the hall with her eyes all over the place and her lip being bitten down savagely.

_That was entirely pointless. I really need to learn how to control that. _Hiccup thought as his guard went down again. His memory kicked in when he recalled that the girl had already passed through this very hall they were both in. He didn't have to put two and two together to realize that the girl was definitely lost.

_Now I really need a help her. But I can't let her see me. No one must see me. What can I do? Unless she has echolocation of her own to lead her out… Wait that's it! Time to do something possibly stupid._ Hiccup retracted his teeth and opened his mouth widely. He aimed right at the blown out torch hanging on the wall. The fire blast started out blue like most of his fire blasts did and exploded slightly before turning into the normal color that fire is associated with. The small explosion caught the girl off guard for a few precious seconds, which allowed Hiccup to scramble out of his hiding place.

As he hurried Hiccup shot another fireball toward a torch not too far off from the first one. With another distraction added on he flew up into the air and quietly clutched onto ceiling arch. A crooked smile spread across his features when he spotted the girl looking at the newly lit torches, bewildered. He ignited another torch in the direction of the right side of the hallway leading to the entrance of the castle.

_Maybe just a few more to get the message straight. _Hiccup thought placidly. To prevent himself from making any sounds Hiccup glided over to each archway before and after blasting more torches. It didn't take long before the girl began to start getting the idea and followed the line of fire. The smile on his face curved into a full grin as he watched in triumph of the girl safely walking back out. As he watched her walk closer and closer to the main hall a slight feeling that Hiccup had only just re-discovered; loneliness.

This was the very first time Hiccup had ever seen an outsider within the castle walls. He was always on the inside looking outward beyond the safe protection of his stony prison. Hiccup felt another emotion curl uncomfortably within him. The feeling of envy grew inside him. The girl was walking freely in the castle but unlike him she also had the liberty to walk in the streets of Berkenshire and not be discriminated by her outer appearance like he most definitely would be. Hiccup shook his head; he was not a little child anymore, getting jealous over someone else's freedom that they obviously took for granted was not befitting for someone like him...

Still, Hiccup wished he could at least interact with the girl. Just one moment would be worth all the years of being cooped up in the way from the world…

Hiccup had not once realized that the last archway he perched on possessed a large crack in the middle. With his weight and the added pressure from the bashyball the arch broke in two and the cursed boy fell to the ground having little to no time to glide down to safety. He crash landed onto the ground with a noticeable thud.

"Ow…" Hiccup breathed out quietly as he started to feel the added pain of the cowpat-smelling ball trapped between the floor and his stomach.

_And he sticks the landing! _Hiccup thought in a very sarcastic undertone. His disgruntled thoughts melted away when he realized something very important. He was not alone in the room. Through the dust that settled on the ground Hiccup could clearly see the girl's eyes staring right at him. Her eyes-shining like sapphires-looked at them with irises widened to a large degree. Blonde hair tied into a braid stuck to her skin from perspires. When she blinked (Hiccup would later assume it was due to the dust) the young Haddock battered his eyelashes along with her, having so much trouble into believing that this was all real and not a dream. He couldn't believe it but it was true he was staring face-to-face to an outsider.

_A not too bad looking outsider. _An annoying voice ribbed inside Hiccup's brain. He mentally shook those thoughts again completely dismayed of thinking such ridiculous things a second time that evening. Just when the girl breathed out a sigh Hiccup arched a brow in confusion. Was there something wrong? She seemed to have yawned but it sounded more like a gasp. Hiccup worried that she probably was either growing jaded by the situation they were in or worse, she breathed out a gasp of fear.

Hiccup was not going to let that happen, the last thing he wanted was anyone to have a great fear of him. Him being judged before they ever got the chance to truly know him; those were the fears implanted in his mind by his worried parents from long ago. Not desiring for the moment by misjudgment Hiccup had dragged his arm toward the ball and opened his mouth speak. At that very moment the girl made a shout of alarm and quickly fled the room not once turning back.

With the ability to run faster than a large animal, the skill to make a vertical takeoff, the strength five large men, and many other talents that Hiccup gained from his nightly transformations he did not make any movements to go after the girl. She had walked out right through the doors; of course he would not go after her. The bitterness of the situation fell unceremoniously on Hiccup's shoulders.

They slumped.

Rejection hurt, and hurt insufferably. The first human he had ever seen to in over two centuries had run away from him like the literal plague. Eventually he picked himself up and reluctantly cradled the ball in his arms before stocking away to the very place that was once his sanctuary, the very place that was a part of his home.

* * *

The Drum Tower was located on the south wall. Normally to get to the very top of the tower a person would have to climb up a win staircase so many flights that it was very tedious work to get to the end. It was one of these very rare moments that Hiccup valued the Curse that was placed upon him. With his sharp claws, and several vines that clustered all across the ivory tower. After two-hundred years those vines were strong enough to hold Hiccup up for once, even when he's turned into a three-hundred pound dragon-boy. His normal weight happens to be a good one hundred and seventy-five. He likes to keep it constant, mind you.

Hiccup climbed up the wall effortlessly with the satchel twisting and flapping around his side like a thorn that wouldn't budge.

_Just another thing I do on my exciting life. _Hiccup dryly as his teeth grind from the added weight of the ball. It probably did weigh a ton from what Hiccup could speculate that of course made the climbing experience all the more irritable. Ten minutes past before Hiccup finally reached the top floor window. He slipped through the enlarged window with ease and re-entered his room.

The room was left exactly as he had earlier in the morning, the large four-poster bed carved by his own claws of dragons, a wardrobe carved in similar liking, a large throw rug made from bear furs slightly damaged by bite marks and quite notably large amounts of slobber, a wooden chair that was twice as small as Hiccup's current form, a handsome mahogany desk that stood parallel to the chair. But the one thing that Hiccup liked most about his room/tower were the walls. Every nook and cranny was covered with hundreds perhaps thousands of drawings, sketches, simple scribbles that all meant something to him. While Hiccup was forbidden to leave the castle during his old life, it did not stop him from watching the daily events surrounding and within the village. This was a trait that he continued using even after all these years.

Each drawing told the story in its own way with all of them being something that Hiccup had seen with his own two eyes. One drawing was very simple it was within the castle showing his mother and father sitting way near the grand fireplace. It was a very crude and simple drawing but one of the very first Hiccup ever made and his mother did say that she liked that drawing because of it, so he placed it right above his bed frame in respect of her wishes. There were many more drawings that Hiccup had drawn that he was far too tired to look over at the moment. He walked over to his desk, opened his satchel, unceremoniously picked up the ball from it and placed it on top with several other objects that it collected over the years.

While he looked down on his desk for a moment Hiccup noticed immediately of one sketch that he was currently in the process of finishing. The drawing was of a dragon that was not at all indented on his bed. This was a dragon that could not be found in the volumes that were located in the library nor any other place that was found inside the walls. It was the dragon that Hiccup should've been fearful of but wasn't. This dragon had very similar qualities to Hiccup's cursed form.

**"I'm guessing my self-portrait isn't finished yet?" **Hiccup turned the new voice in the room and smiled to see it was one of his oldest and most loyal of friends. Through the very window Hiccup had just climbed in the unexpected guest crawled in without worry. A pair of reptilian eyes identical to Hiccup's own eyes shined fondly at the cursed boy.

The Night Fury beamed at Hiccup with a large mouthy grin that showed no teeth whatsoever.

"It's nice to see you too, Toothless." Hiccup smiled and placed a paw over the large dragon's head. The dragon-christened Toothless-smiled his namesake once more and affectionately nudged Hiccup's paw in return. **"Just give me a few minutes and I should have that picture of yours done in no time."**

The dragon chuckled. **"Do you really think I came all this way for that? Tonight happens to be the first evening in the last few weeks with no clouds in the sky. It's more than perfect to fly out. Don't you want to stretch out your wings for a little bit? It'll be a real blast."**

Hiccup arched one eyebrow and gave his companion a wiry smirk.** "You do remember the last time he said something like that you ended up blowing a shot of your plasma blast at me. Unless you forgot the last time I flew with you." **

His words sounded coarse and foreign, almost as though he was speaking in a different language. The truth was Hiccup did speak another language. The dialect of Dragonese was the language all dragons spoke. It had taken twenty years for Hiccup to learn enough of the words to speak in a conversation without sounding like a complete fool. His teacher of course was none other than the Night Fury that sat opposite of him standing. Toothless was someone Hiccup had met during a very… delicate time in the cursed boy's life. It was an encounter both frightening and riveting.

On a cold night very much like the one the two were in now, Hiccup stood dangerously close to the ledge of his tower while he looked solemnly down below to the quiet village that had recently changed its name from Berk-en-Shire to Berkenshire. Honestly Hiccup didn't quite understand the reason for the change. It was practically the same as before only with a few alterations.

As he mulled over these thoughts and a few more distressing ones Hiccup heard a distant noise coming from the horizon. To the untrained eye all it would see would be the blackness of the night canopying over the inky blackness of the ocean north of the town. But to Hiccup, with his dragon eyes he was able to notice something else. What he saw appeared to be the outline for large black mass heading straight toward the castle. His territorial instincts involuntarily kicked in as Hiccup's large fangs retracted and he shot out a large fire blast.

Since all dragons were fireproof on the outside getting blasted left fairly minor injuries leaving the Night Fury with hardly any scrapes on him. Hiccup was very surprised from that encounter when he heard the dragon speak words in a garbled sentence that he almost understood a coupe words. From what he gathered the Night Fury wasn't all that pleased that he lost his fish from the fireball Hiccup shot at him. In order to appease his new guest Hiccup offered a salted salmon that was originally locked away in a storeroom.

In a short period of time (and much fish digested later) both of the cursed boy and Night Fury ended up becoming fast friends. At least Hiccup assumed the dragon wanted friendship when he regurgitated the first fish given to him moments after swallowing it down and pushed the half eaten meal to Hiccup. When he-albeit reluctantly-chewed and ate the fish whole Hiccup unconsciously offered a smile to the dragon

That very exchanged occurred only recently when after Hiccup stood by his desk and Toothless threw up two haddocks.

_It's like he knows he's trying to tease me. _Hiccup thought while grimacing at the drooled covered fish. **"Thanks, my friend but I'm not really all that hungry right now." **There was some truth to that excuse since Hiccup did lose his appetite from the apparent rejection he got earlier.

Toothless rolled his eyes and stared at Hiccup blankly. **"You always say that."**

**"I still prefer cooked food before I eat it thank you."**

The naturally born Night Fury glanced at his cursed counterpart idly. **"You're weird like that you know."**

Hiccup sighed, **"Yeah I know." **He really did. With careful hands Hiccup picked up his charcoal pencil, straightened out the drawing and resumed his sketching. This was the norm of every night here in Haddock Castle. Night would fall, Hiccup would transform-losing one or two pairs of clothing in the process-he'd scale the might tower, then Toothless flies in to greet him, and the rest of the evening would continue as followed.

**"Listen a couple of my mates and I were thinkin' of going to this farm where some new lambs had just started to fatten up and I thought-"**

**"No," **Hiccup answered right off the bat, his eyes not leaving his soon-to-be masterpiece.

Toothless whined. **"I didn't even get to finish."**

**"And I knew what you were going to ask me," **the bipedal Night Fury replied. A moment later he began to mimic his companion's drawl in comedic fashion. **"'Oh Hiccup, you'll really LOVE to come with me to this random place that has all the most tasty foodstuff around. Sure they'll be other dragons that know nothin' 'bout yooou~ but I'm sure they won't ask TOO many questions.'"**

The crouching Night Fury glared with a very unamused expression. **"I don't sound like that at all."**

Hiccup shrugged unflappably, his wings barely shifting for unrealized emphasis. **"It's not important, what's important is that you clearly don't remember that I'm not entirely a full dragon." **

**"You could if you wanted to."**

**"It doesn't work like that." **Hiccup tried to explain weakly. **"If any of those dragons found out that I wasn't fully a dragon they would try to go after me. It's better for everyone, and for myself that I stay where I am."**

Toothless gave Hiccup a calculating look before he said, **"So you're fine with staying cooped up in this place forever?" **The Dragon shook his head. **"I've watched you, you know. I've seen you looking down from your tower some nights. You look down at the man village. Your face is full of longing almost like… you want to go there." **The dragon made a face and disgust.

Hiccup paused at mid-stroke, his claws gripping the homemade pencil not as loose as before. He turned toward Toothless and frowned slightly. The look of grimace melted away into a more saddened mien. **"Both of my parents were human, Toothless. I am too, it's just-I am," **he trailed off, his eyes staring deeply at the floor.

Toothless tilted his head so he appeared under Hiccup's gaze. **"You are not a boy, but you are not a dragon either."**

Hiccup nodded. **"Do you understand now?"**

**"I do. I only wish you wanted to be a dragon more than one of those humans. They used to hunt my kind down for centuries, Hiccup." **Toothless crooned unhappily, his round eyes widening with worry. **"I don't want you to do something crazy and try to mingle with them."**

**"But spending some quality time with ferocious fire-breathing reptiles is completely safe and non-life-threatening?" **Hiccup made a snort of disbelief.

**"It is with me around. I'll make sure none of the others find out about your… 'Condition.' They'll just see you as some odd-looking foreigner from-oh I don't know someplace from the East. I'm trying to say is, Hiccup, is that you have a chance to be accepted and I mean REALLY be accepted. You know how to walk like a dragon, to talk like one, and even think like one. **

**"Trust me when I say you have a very good chance by being welcomed by the other dragons. Can you at least think about it?" **

Hiccup attempted one of his easy-going smiles and quickly interjected Toothless' suggestion. **"I need to finish that drawing of yours sooner than later. Otherwise I'll be up all night again."**

Toothless rolled his eyes and grumbled throatily. He knew when a conversation wanted to be dropped.

* * *

It had taken Hiccup another half hour to coax Toothless into leaving for the sheep raid without him. Such a shame to since lamb happened to be one of his favorite meats. Digressing over this issue Hiccup resumed staring out the window, the very saying Toothless warned him about not doing.

While the dragon may never truly understand about Hiccup's inner thoughts he would have at least noticed the dragon-boy's fascination with them. Hiccup didn't know why there was something about the human race that he enjoyed watching. While he was very much aware of how brutish and how occupationally hazardous they tend to be, humans still found a way to be creative and thought provoking to counter all that negativity. They built homes, made their own food, lived in large communities for the sake of being with others and nothing else; and the last part that somewhat had to do with the previous mentioning was socializing.

To be with others was the one thing that Hiccup was denied for so many years. It was the one thing's parents denied him. He knew the reason; he understood it day by day as each night passed but he wished. Oh, how he wished it was all different. All this wishing led to the unforeseen desire to hope. He hoped that one day he would live in a world where people with… Differences could be accepted for who they were on the inside. From what he observes up in his tower Hiccup could see there were many different types of people in the village. There were tall people, short people, fat, skinny, old, young, and even people with missing limbs. All of them had a place, a purpose, some form of acceptance in that little town.

On a night like this, this very night Hiccup watched the few straggling runners on the field beside his castle, that non-extinguishable flicker of hope roared inside him like a ball of fire. He wondered what it would be like if that girl-that loud screaming girl that jumped away at the last second an hour before-had stayed and learned to accept him like she did with her own kind.

_Oh yeah sure, that'll happen. And after we become the best of chums we can have Afternoon Tea with Toothless. _Hiccup sighed unhappily. Even his own conscience was being cynical to his hopes and dreams. Whether it was his own feelings or his dragon instincts acting up again Hiccup by the sudden urge to throw something at a wall. He prepared to chuck the object he fidgeted in his hands moments before just when he realized it was the very thing that started the whole problem to begin with. He was holding the heavy ball in his paws.

_I swear it's like it's mocking me._ Hiccup looked at the ball with bitterness until his eyes flickered back towards the field when he noticed the shifting specks were no longer going about in a circle but heading towards one of the rectangular shaped buildings that was clustered near a larger one. He realized that his brief form of entertainment was over once the lights that illuminated the field turned off a few minutes later. Even from his high viewpoint Hiccup was able to glimpse at the unhappy looks that were plastered on the runners' faces. One phase was much more noticeable than the others as it was Loud-Screaming girl stocking away with a look that was very unreadable to Hiccup. He was unsure if she was upset about the ball missing or-the flicker of hope came back-she was thinking about the events that took place not so long ago. That last thought was soon tossed away when Hiccup grasped at how ridiculous that sounded. He tapped a claw on the ball as his lips pursed into thought.

His dragon instincts told him to simply ignore the ball and girl and resume his life the way it was before. The more logical thought process told Hiccup at different idea. The ball was clearly of some great importance to the girl and to a lesser extent the other people of her age group. If the girl was more than willing to go into the castle one time to get the ball back he would be certain she would probably try and go back again and the next time with maybe reinforcements that carried heavy artillery. While the later part of the thought sounded rather askew it still made Hiccup shiver in nervousness. Either way Hiccup would feel his moral ethics being disturbed. In a last-ditch effort Hiccup finally came up with an idea so bold, so dangerous, so stupid, that it would easily be mistaken for pure insanity.

* * *

_Someday I might see this as a fiendishly clever plan. _Hiccup thought sarcastically with feigned optimism. His clever plan involved him writing a letter for Loud-Screaming girl (the name stuck with Hiccup for reasons explained earlier) to warn her the dangers of throwing a ball into a window and taking proper safety measures in order to avoid those dangers. The other part of the plan was the most difficult for Hiccup to think about but knew it had to be done.

He was to go outside of the castle walls and walk toward a human's house.

As much as Hiccup did heed his parents' warnings to never leave the castle there came a time when precaution needed to be thrown to the wind and do what needed to be done. He made sure the right essentials were to be brought for this expedition. Pants and a buttoned vest were a must when he was to go into public. Hopefully Hiccup would not come across anyone in particular but his mother always told him that dressing impeccably was important when meeting people, whether intentional or not. He picked out a pair of dark brown trousers that went nicely with the dark green vest he had made along with the pants. Both of them were designed and stitched precisely so they could be comfortable to wear while under the influence of the Transformation. He had sadly forgotten to change into them before sunset when his mind got preoccupied with the unexpected arrival of a certain blond-haired guest.

_Wait how should I sign as? _A new thought bubble presided over Hiccup's mind._ Can't put 'Prince Hiccup,' not only would that lead to questioning but make me sound pretentious, and just calling me by my name would lead to instant humiliation. 'The Master of Haddock Castle' does have a nice ring to it but still draws too much attention to myself._ Personally, Hiccup thought most of the names did not suit him well. He never saw himself as royalty, despite technically being one. He **did **look after the castle and made sure everything was taken care of but being a master meant he led others to do the work instead of him. Scratch that one off the list. He didn't consider himself as a monarch, he was no one's master, and all he could do was look after the home and care for it when others were too afraid to do so.

_Wait that's it! I'm the castle caretaker._ Hiccup concluded with some form of satisfaction. He penned his new self-proclaimed title with feverish delight.

Hiccup finished the last flourish of his left wrist with precision as he placed an olden fountain pen on the side of his desk. He held up the written paper to inspect for any grammatical errors of any kind (his handwriting and spelling happened to be flawless, thank you very much). When he spotted none (naturally) Hiccup folded the paper into thirds, melted a red wax seal on to the final fold, and placed the letter into the satchel along with the ball.

Hiccup climbed up a makeshift ladder that he made himself up to the roof of the tower. He pushed open a trapdoor that led to the top and looked over at the starry night above him and the sleeping town below.

_All right I can do this. I'll just think of it as a leisurely stroll down the courtyard and nothing else._ Despite that idea Hiccup felt a great unsettling feeling coil in his stomach. The very thought of leaving-even if for ten minutes-was impossible to bear. Even with the motivation of doing a righteous thing Hiccup still had some second thoughts. His parents didn't press into his mind about staying in the castle for nothing; there were still many people around who would react badly to the way he looked. The Loud-Screaming girl was enough proof for that. If he wasn't careful enough his whole fragile world might common crashing down on him.

_I will only be gone for a moment. I won't be breaking any rules if no one sees me. It's practically a hop and a skip away from the castle._ Hiccup thought reassuringly. The village was far less than a kilometer from the castle after all and with flying he should make it back before being missed.

That is if anyone would miss him.

Once he shook that bitter thought away Hiccup stood atop a battlement and spread his wings. With one hand he took out the bashyball and brought it close to his face. He inhaled the fleeting sent of vanilla, a small smile twitched for a moment before he placed the ball back into the satchel. Keeping the scent fresh in his memory Hiccup crouched down to feel the wind on his face. If someone were to look up at the castle they would have mistaken him for a large gargoyle. In barely an eighth of a second Hiccup detected the aroma. With a slight smirk Hiccup took a deep breath to both ready himself and to get a stronger whiff and then jumped into the air and glided breezily through the sky.

If there was one thing Hiccup truly accepted about his 'condition,' flying became the first thing on the very small list. The sky is beyond doubt a grand sight to behold. Nothing came close to the feeling of freedom and joy that swelled inside him. The wind blew across his face wonderfully while his hair was all over the place and his bangs nearly covered his face a few times. He jerked his head around slightly to move the fringe of auburn hair away while he kept his eyes focused to the ground and his nose focusing toward the smell.

_I better make a landing sooner than later. I wouldn't want to crash into anything valuable. _In a matter of seconds Hiccup landed on the ground without a hitch. He smiled pleasingly when he smelled the scent at its 's strongest point. The dragon-boy was on a pathway made from that substance he had read about that was called…tar if he remembered correctly. Luckily the tar he was standing on happened to be solid, so no worries of scalding to death. There were several houses around him that despite no longer made from the same materials he recalled seeing on houses from when he was a child; Hiccup noted that they barely changed in size and shape even if the design was greatly shifted. One house in particular drew his attention with the familiar scent of vanilla practically emitting from the pathway toward the front door to the inside of the home.

Hiccup wondered for a moment where he should place the ball and note until he heard a faint sound behind him. It was the sound feet marching over the tar path from the echoing sounds Hiccup guessed that there were two people coming down the road. Swiftly Hiccup removed the ball and letter from the bag, hastily placed them beside the oddly made white fence that surrounded the vanilla-smelling house and scrambled over to the opposite side of the road where a large brick wall stood facing that he climbed over and hid away from the stomping feet.

With one of his keen ears placed on the brick Hiccup could hear the conversation between the two unseen figures.

"…all I'm saying is that I 'eard something between a group youngsters talkin' 'bout that castle earlier." The voice sounded like a gruff male well into his late thirties, according to Hiccup's speculation.

The other voice belonged to a man with identical speech patterns with a voice much harsh sounding as if the man had been known to barking orders. He sounded like he was scowling as he talked, "What yer spewing out now is nothin' but nonsense. Ye sure none of them were jaked on a hauf?"

The first man grunted some sort of profanity Hiccup was unfamiliar with. "I know fer a fact that none of those kids were blootered. Belch wouldn't live to see the day his 'Star Players' getting drunk off their arses. Somethin' smells rotten in Berkenshire, and those kids are meddling in to somethin' you and I know mustn't be meddled in."

The other man sighed, admitting defeat. "Very well, ye think it's so important I'll make a 'special' appearance at the school tomorrow. S'bout time I should make an appearance, aye?"

"He-he, I don' see why not, **mayor**." Hiccup did not like that tone the first man was using. He couldn't help but feel something heavy hanging in the air.

"I bid ye a goodnight, **principal**." More chuckling was heard between the two that did not sound the least bit friendly toward Hiccup. Once he heard the laughter growing fainter after a minute passed Hiccup did not waste time he spread his wings and fly quickly as he could back home.

_Those two gentlemen did not feel like warm company._ Hiccup flapped his wings hurriedly as he spotted the castle over the village square and far beyond the opposite direction of the Stone Arch._ It's better for me to stay where I belong. _

Without another word Hiccup landed on the top of a familiar drum tower and climbed through the safe sanctuary that was his home for over two hundred years.

* * *

Morning came abruptly with sunlight breaking through the arch window in Hiccup's room. He awoke with a puff of air showing his distaste for how early it was. His green eyes creaked open while his body voluntarily pushed forward and he sat up period. The dragon-boy started to wipe the sleep from his eyes when he duly noted that he now had hands again and his nails were no longer at talons and his skin was the favorable light peach with freckles peppered around accordingly. As he yawned Hiccup stretched newly transformed body and then pushed the covers away from his bed and climbed out with his human feet hitting the rug beside the foot.

Hiccup climbed out of his bed and then walked over to the wardrobe. He donned the same trousers he wore the other night since they weren't filthy but put on a different shirt. He picked the first tunic he reached and pulled his arms through the armsayes. After he adjusted his shirt Hiccup made a quick mental list of today's chores and began to do them with a slow pace.

Being the unofficial-official caretaker to a castle wasn't always fun and games but Hiccup had to make due. Sometimes when he was really bored he would make a sport of breaking a record for cleaning the most out of one day. The usual routine started with making the bed and straightening out the sheets. Before he started though Hiccup made sure to sniff them in case they needed to be cleaned. When he didn't smell anything foul Hiccup resumed the chores with the same haste as before.

The wooden floors needed a good scrub and polish, forcing Hiccup to climb down the tedious amount of stairs. He reached the castle courtyard that was-no surprise-well landscaped with a moderately large water well in the middle. Using a bucket the boy pulled the water up, wearying him down in the process. It was rare moments like these Hiccup did wish that the great strength he gained while a Night Fury still lingered after the Transformation. After he got a full bucket's worth of water Hiccup climbed up the stairs back to the tall tower where his high room resided.

He brushed the floors with a broom and swept all the dust outside the window before he placed some soap in the water and began to scrub. Hiccup scrubbed at the floor until all but most of the grime from the week washed away and it dried up enough for the polish. The boy polished and polished until he could see his own face in the reflection. A part of him was almost tempted to flex what little muscles he had but quickly realized that was very vain. He already broke his parents' promise the last thing he wanted was to commit another sin, even a redundant one as vanity.

The ritual of floor cleaning continued with the other levels in the tower and then the main parts of the castle. By nine o'clock Hiccup had finished with all the wood floors. In a celebratory mood Hiccup picked some rarer herbs to spice his morning oatmeal and collected a red, juicy apple to munch on the side. He laid down on the very same tree and smiled contently at the wonderful day that was beginning to form before him.

The sun broke through the clouds for the first time in weeks with its warming rays heating the ground Hiccup sat on. His toes wiggled happily from the warmth and played with a few blades of grass that had some lingering droplets of dew. Several wildflowers had their buds opened wide for honeybees and butterflies to collect the nectar while a few birds flew from their respected nests to capture a few worms that were unlucky enough to still be hanging around on the surface.

The flowers were something Hiccup took the most care in looking after. The ones that were protected from bugs and parasites were the beautiful climbing roses that clung desperately to the stonewalls. They were his mother's favorite from long ago and she always loved keeping them pruned and watered. The ones that bloomed the most were the light pink roses that had a magenta tint near the petals' pink tips and started out in white at the bottom. And their smell-dare Hiccup would say-smelled heavenly. They emitted a light perfume that was not overpowering in the slightest and tickled the nose just enough that it didn't get irritating after a moment or two.

_The Anniversary is almost coming up. _Hiccup remembered after a while later. _Perhaps she would be happy if I placed one of the roses for her. Mother always did like looking at them when we went on strolls through here._

Hiccup went over to look at the flowers more clearly in order to see which ones were the best looking and smelled the nicest without the scents coming out too strong.

_These look nice, _Hiccup settled with three roses that had no blemishes to see. _"I will pluck these from the vines once the day before the Anniversary arrives, that way they will still be in bloom when…_

Hiccup's thoughts trailed off when his ears picked up a new sound. In order to see where the commotion was coming from Hiccup hurried over to a small hole that broke through the wall. It was small enough for no one to suspect a person peeking through if they did not pay attention to that particular spot, but it was large enough for Hiccup to see everything taking place over a distance.

_Constables… _Hiccup grimaced, he never liked it when they trespassed over the castle, acting like they owned the place. It was always his home and no one else's, no written doctrine could say otherwise. _What on Earth and Midgar do they want?_

A half dozen or so policemen stood near the front with their automobiles rumbling like purring kittens, but that didn't comfort Hiccup even in the slightest. Another car soon rolled up the gravel road. It looked much different from the ones the constables rode in; the model was sleeker, more slender in style in contrast to the older cars parked alongside the road.

"Mayor Sköll," the finely dressed Copper that Hiccup assumed was the Chief constable dispatched toward the man coming out of the sleek car. More constables joined the other two, inhibiting Hiccup's view. All he could see were boots and muddy shoes across the lawn.

_How fantastic. I can't even hear most of them now with the other ones in the way. _Hiccup frowned sourly, before pushing himself to the ground to sit cross-legged and folded his arms with a very dignified pout. _Twice something interesting happens around here and I get an obscure view for the latter. Why can't they just leave so I can hear those two men?_ A revelation slowly coursed through Hiccup._ Wow, I actually sounded like a sounded like a spoiled prince just now….so that's where that phrase comes from. Hmm._

Suddenly Hiccup's pondering went away when a new sound was added into the mix. He turned over toward the other side of the field where he heard the noise coming from further down the south wall that faced the town. It was much easier to scale over that part of the wall with the apple tree right beside it for Hiccup to scale up to the top.

Hiccup was able to scan the area much clearly then before with the exception of the constables being further away and hardly audible to his ears. His eyes narrowed down when he pinpointed slight movement in the tall grass. For a moment Hiccup initially thought that a small rapid was scurrying through the field before he saw something he never thought he would see again.

_Can it be? This is not of it all be a great sick allusion. _Despite Hiccup's denial what he was seeing was indeed true.

Crawling out of the grass was not a rabbit or small mammal of any sort but Loud-Screaming girl sneaking away from the constables' 'trained eyes,' carrying a silver cylinder-like object and one hand, and slide underneath the broken window to the basement.

_Oh, sweet merciful son of God and Odinson. This **really** cannot be happening!_

* * *

**Q-A: **Well there I go ending it one a cliffhanger. Ain't I a stinker? XD Yeah, this is pretty cruel of me but seeing how it's 11 my time here I can't really write any more so I apologize. But on the bright side you all got a Hiccup-centered chapter this time around. That has to count for something right? Anyway I am very grateful for the reviews that I've gotten so far, 16 reviews and only three chapters. Wow just wow guys I'm very pleased that you are enjoying the whole ride. I will try and get more stuff out but you know what college and all it can be sparing whenever I get another chapter completely done. But I am not abandoning this story don't worry.

**Jaked/blootered- meaning being drunk.**

**Hauf- a measurement of whiskey. **

Keep on Writin' and Rockin'


	5. Going Down the Rabbit Hole (again)

**Q-A: **Well, to say the quick responses I got from the last chapter was wonderful. And that is an understatement. :D You all make me VERY happy to know that this story is doing so well. And for future reference all the chapters' titles will be based on songs and mostly their titles as well. The song that this chapter is named after is partially the inspiration for this chapter, but mostly for the curiosity of going back to do something despite it being dangerous and unsafe. If you catch my drift that is. XD

**Responses to Guest Reviews:**

_DragonBoy (Guest):_ I am happy you like the story. :D And the guest name… I enjoy very much. XDD

_somebody:_ O.o I….honestly don't know what you asked for in your review but I'll take a knack at it. First Astrid didn't steal anything from Hiccup. What she has in her hands will be explained in this chapter ( :\ I'm surprised that it became the concern for other reviewers to be honest). Next Hiccup's entire curse will be explained in the story so I can't spoil anything right now. Sorry. As for what universe this story is taking in once again you'll have to wait and see. And finally, chapter 4 took half of its place on the day on chapter 3 but is now the day after it, or in Hiccup's case the afternoon later on.

**Disclaimer:** The story is mine (well you know, most of it XDDD) but no characters aren't mine either. If it were the case I would make the Dragon film series be more than a trilogy. But hey, let's not count the chickens before they hatch and get on with this story!

* * *

**Going Down the Rabbit Hole (again)**

August 24th, 2010 (morning at the Hofferson household) ~

If someone were to ask Astrid to sum up her day in one word the first thing out, into her mine would be, headache. Just a headache, because that's all she had from start to finish was a throbbing head and a whole lot information that just was filling inside her brain far too quickly. From when she woke out of bed she had a splitting pain in her skull that no amount of ibuprofen was able to cure. It was so distracting that she almost missed a question her father asked while eating at the kitchen table for breakfast. He had asked her how Bashyball practice went.

"It went fine, Dad." Astrid muttered into her oatmeal, her eyes staring blankly at the table.

Erik Hofferson wasn't a very talkative person. He was a man that believed actions spoke louder than words, a trait that he unexpectedly passed on to his daughter. Since she was practically his spitting image-save for the fact her hair was a lighter blond than his was and her blue eyes were inherited from her mother-he was able to tell when Astrid really meant what she said or was hiding something within her.

"I heard from Gobber that yoo had to do extra laps which explains why you were late."

Astrid inwardly winced. She should've known that Gobber would call her dad. He wasn't considered everyone's uncle for nothing. In hopes of preventing the uncomfortable conversation to steer into the wrong direction Astrid kept her stoic upfront and kept her face impassive.

"Jus' had a little screw up with 'im fer losing the ball."

"-The same ball that that you were carrying last night?" Her father quickly interjected.

Astrid breathed out a very small sigh. She nodded carefully, "Aye, that that one." She trailed off for a moment, thinking her next words cautiously and came up with a decent excuse.

"Ruff' nicked it while Gobber wasn't looking and snuck away before I could look fer it. 'Turned out she did it behind some bushes at the end of the field and I found it after practice. It was already too late in the evening fer me to give the ball back to Gobber, so I brought it back home toh give it to 'im today at school."

Erik held a thoughtful look for a minute while taking the whole story in.

_Please buy it. Please buy it. _Astrid chanted in the back of her mind. She knew that the lie she had just said wouldn't be impossible to believe since everyone in the village knew of Ruffnut's mischievous behavior since only she and her brother were always playing tricks like two partners in crime. So logically Ruffnut sneaking a basyball underneath Gobber's nose would not sound far-fetched. The last thing she wanted was for her father to know about her little outing to Haddock Castle. Not only would she be grounded until she died but never get the chance to meet 'Mr. Castle Care-taker' as she had started to call the mysterious ball bringer and sarcastic note writer.

After what felt like an eternity Erik made a jerk with his head, a sign of conceding defeat. "Does sound right to meh. Better tell Gobber the truth if this happens a second time though."

Astrid nodded. "Right, dad." She scarfed down the remaining porridge and carried it over to the sink to wash later. After grabbing her bag Astrid bid her father a goodbye and headed straight for the door until-

"'Strid." Her father called out in that little nickname of hers that Astrid secretly loathed but was too polite to let him know that.

"Yeah, dad."

"The knot on yer tie is crooked. Better fix before headin' off fer school."

Astrid titled her head and low to behold saw that her tie was indeed tied haphazardly. With an annoyed sigh of how easy her father could point out things from her, Astrid fastened the tie again with it being straightened out properly and giving the professional look against her unwrinkled uniform. It was school dress code to have an orderly uniform at all times. Even getting a ketchup stain on the blouse meant a demerit. Astrid gave her appearance one last quick look of inspection before she finally went through the door and left, heading toward the school.

The walk to school took little less than ten minutes to arrive at the front gate from Astrid's house. That allotted time and distance gave the girl many opportunities to admire the scenery but with her attention span sparing hardly any for pretty-looking plants wasn't important to her.

_At least it's quite out._ Astrid mused while she adjusted her rucksack. On a brick wall two her right a large thumping noise came along with a shrill squeak and an immediate groan of pain. Camicazi Bog picked herself up with minimal effort with her hair, and uniform, in a disheveled mess as usual.

"How are yoo on this fine mornin'?" Came the loud bellowing from the shorter blonde, not showing any heed to the half dozen birds she had just sent off in alarm.

_Guess I spoke too soon._ Astrid turned; Camicazi walked beside her with a spring in her step and twigs tangled in her hair along with a few unknown objects that Astrid preferred not to learn what they truly were.

While keeping a straight face Astrid replied to the question previously asked. "It's been better."

Camicazi glanced at the taller girl before he continued. "Did ja have a spout with yer dad?"

Astrid's walking paused for a moment before she continued, acting as though nothing changed. Nothing that had been said penetrated through her. "I didin' have a go with 'im. Mah Da and I are **fine**." She stressed. "Don't be daft, Cami."

Camicazi rolled her eyes playfully but soon became serious. "I'm not daft jus' hopin' things are all right and all. Nothin' with making a conversation now is it?"

"No," Astrid admitted. "But you need to learn what can be asked and what can't. There is nothin' wrong with mah dad and me. Why bother asking anyways? I never saw you as somebody who cared about someone's domestic life."

"Mah mum wanted me to ask."

"Ah," Astrid replied with a slight nod. Bertha was good friends with Astrid's mother back when she still alive. Brenda Hofferson was there for Bertha after the tragic loss of her husband; she had made meals for the mourning woman and spent extended time over at the Bog home excusing that she was bringing Astrid along for a play-date, hence the friendship between her and Camicazi. When Brenda lost her life long after Astrid was seven Bertha and her daughter became a big presence to the remaining Hoffersons. She immediately became a surrogate aunt for Astrid.

"She'll be glad to know everything is fine at the Hofferson residence."

"I'll be glad to report that then." Cami replied with a head lifted up in satisfaction. Even in the early morning she was still a haughty little thing.

* * *

The rest of the gang stood by the front gates, per usual to the days before they started First Year together. Well except Camicazi of course.

"Did any of yoo guys get tossed up by yer parent like me and Ruff the other night?" Tuffnut asked exasperatedly.

"My mum wasn't all too thrilled about meh bring out so late," Fishlegs answered. "Even though I told her I was still at the school she still looked hysterical."

"I don't what the big deal is, it's not like any of us died. That castle is just stupid, who would name it after some fish anyway."

"How do you know, Snotlout?" Tuffnut asked in his bored tone. "We all know Astrid was the one that went into the castle. She knows what's up with that place, right?"

Astrid mentally groaned at Tuffnut's rare showing of perception. All eyes turned to her. For the first time in her life, Astrid wished she didn't have so much attention placed on her.

"Nothing happened to me when I went inside. The only thing that really almost killed me was boredom an' nothing else. So I suggest we drop the subject like a useless axe and get on with our lives." The last part came out in a borderline snarl as Astrid scowled with bared teeth. She was not in a mood to bring up the castle again.

"Whoa, no need to go savage on us." Ruffnut joked.

Astrid was reminded of wild green eyes for just a moment. She pinched the bridge of her nose to hide her momentary distinction of weakness.

"The point is the castle is old news and doesn't need to be concerned by the likes of us." Astrid crossed her arms, making herself look determined and strong even though she didn't honestly feel any of it. "The least we can do is forget all of this nonsense and focus on what's really important."

_At least until I get mah hands on 'Mr. Castle Care-taker.' The last thing I want is fer everyone to crowd me when I go back there. _Astrid still had every intention of going to Castle Haddock but she did not want her friends to be involved. The matter between her and that-that….care-taker person was between them and no one else. She was not going to let anything get in her way-

RING!

Well, except maybe school.

"Oi, useless mollusks!" Gobber called out cheerfully, his right stump waving toward the gang. His face looked grim as his steely eyes brimmed with concern that was absolutely foreign to Astrid and the others. "Ye all need ta' come inside. Principal wants ta' speak with everyone."

After exchanging confused looks with everyone Astrid was the first to head to where Gobber was as he hurried along to the hastily made assembly hall in the gym. "Whazgoinon, Gobber?" Astrid asked rather quickly and she felt foolish for sounding so worried.

"I dunno," Gobber replied with a shrug. "We'll jus' 'ave ta' wait and see what 'His Almighty-ness' is gonna go talk aboot this time." Astrid hide a smile. It was no secret that Gobber wasn't at all friendly with the principal. With both of them sharing different values, morals, and ideas on education they both begrudgingly worked together since Gobber wanted to keep his job and the principal was friends with the mayor.

"It'll probably be some dull assembly on avoiding drugs." Astrid shrugged her own shoulders having seen every school assembly in the past nine years.

"Nah, if I was I would've been told of it. Something's not right and I'm not sure it's good to draw too much attention, aye?" Gobber looked warningly at Astrid and jerked his head toward the others who were tagging along behind them. The twins threw each other into a headlock while Fishlegs tried to break them apart with little success. Camicazi noticed some old pipes hanging from the ceiling and started to imagine them as a jungle gym. Heather was the one that kept the younger girl from climbing on them, much to the blonde's frustration. Snotlout was being Snotlout with him strutting down the hall like he owned the place. The same old morning routine from them all but nothing Astrid could note as expelling material.

"I'm sure it'll be fine." Astrid answered with a bare hint of hesitation.

"I'm sure it will." Gobber insisted, arms waving. "But it'd be better ta' stay on yer toes fer the rest of the day. I 'ave no idea what's in store fer this gatherin' but it doesn't sound promisin'" When another faculty member passed by and whispered something into Gobber's ear he said to Astrid. "Need to be headin' off now. Teachers sit in their place ya know."

Astrid nodded, still knowing perfectly well about the basic protocol that occurred at assemblies.

"See ye soon enough." Gobber waved once before he trudged ahead with the other teachers.

* * *

"I really hope the assembly isn't about us." Fishlegs whispered a few minutes later after they settled into the bleachers.

The gymnasium was fairly large in size, more than big enough to house the whole school during assemblies such as this one. Students were divided by the year they were in with the youngest ones at the bottom row with the last one on top. Astrid and the other S4's were near the middle between the third and fifth years. The location wasn't that entirely ideal since the upperclassmen thought lowly of the students below their year and the underclassmen had the tendency to try and sneak around to sit with the higher classes they weren't in to look important or to stir up some trouble. Snotlout and Camicazi were prime examples of this since he wanted to appear cooler and Cami wanted to sit with her mates. Naturally both of them ended up getting scolded by the school librarian who just happened to have made his rounds when he caught the two of them.

"Nothing like that will happen, 'Legs." Ruffnut replied, her tone sounding bored, as she wasn't allowed to pound on her brother at the moment. Astrid felt some sympathy for her friend since Fishlegs was the type of guy who tended to let his mouth wander for hours on time talking about useless facts that had nothing to do with anything. Thankfully both blond girls were spared from the suffering when the principal **finally **appeared before the gym court. His rectangular mustache and matching goatee formed a expressionless frown that Astrid swore was permanently glued to his face. He tapped on the microphone stand in front of him before the loud obnoxious sound resonated across the large room.

"Good morning students. I hope your second week of school has been eventful. It's good to see all of you with your smiling faces down at me."

_Why does it sound like that he really doesn't mean what he's saying? _Astrid made a quick glance with her eyes around the room and noticed vigilantly that no one had any cheerful expressions, like Ruffnut everyone looked too tired or bored to care what he was saying.

"We've got ourselves a special guest joining us for today so give a round of applause to our esteemed mayor, Sköll."

The response was both ways ecstatic and surprise coming from most of the students and teachers. They had no idea Mayor Sköll would come to the school. It was at the beginning of the first week of term but never any other ones. Astrid wasn't sure how to react to this as she sat near the edge of her seat.

Mayor Sköll was a man in his mid-forties with a strong build, though not as wide as Gobber (Astrid thought that no one could be big as him). Like most of the men in Berkenshire Sköll had an impressive beard that grayed slightly, but striking nonetheless. He carried himself in a very high stature that made him look more menacing than friendly with his clean-cut suit freshly ironed and his hair combed and well groomed.

"Thank you for the introduction, Principal Savage." Sköll chuckled throatily with good humor. "And I must say, coming back here again this term is quite an honor. Yer all the hope of the town after all."

_Which is his way of saying, 'I'm so glad you all can be future voters for me' _Astrid thought while hiding away a knowing smile. Sköll was the type of man that didn't care how people looked at him as long as they respected him. Well, feared and respected… well, feared.

"But as much as I like you all there's one thing I can't stand… and those are **troublemakers**."

Small whispers were heard around Astrid and Fishlegs could be seen whimpering and shaking like a floping fish on land. _Something's not right. _

"Troublemakers, the very word makes my blood boil." Sköll paced back and forth while still remaining close to the mike. "You see I was kindly informed by yer principal the other night that someone in this school had the bright idea of going somewhere they know isn't supposed to be gone into. One of you entered in to Haddock Castle."

Mayor Sköll was more than kind enough to let the students and faculty whisper and mutter their surprise as Astrid felt a large weight fell on her shoulders and had the sudden urge to collapse. _They found out. Somehow they found out._

"There is a reason the city council passed the law to forbid us all from goin' in there." Sköll continued. "It's not a sound place to visit. The floors are unstable; broken glass is everywhere, and it's right next to the cliffs. It would be an awful shame if one of you fell down off of one of the battlements by mistake."

_Funny that he hasn't mentioned anything about the so-called curse on the place. _Astrid wiped her eyes tiredly. She was finding something off with Sköll's claims about Haddock Castle being unsafe. While she was inside the castle Astrid felt the cobblestone floors and did not find them the least bit unsteady below her feet. She also saw no broken glass or other dangerous objects in the sort. It was surprisingly clean despite a few spider-webs hanging from the archways. Astrid's thoughts went away when Ruffnut tapped her shoulder. With a jerk from her head Ruff' motioned Astrid to listen to the next part.

_What's wrong with me? I don't lose focus that quickly._

"All I'm asking from you is yer complete and total, support into some… questioning over this whole ordeal. Jus' a few minutes of yer time this month should do, and we can get to the bottom of this." He carried on with more news that did not settle the thick coils that roped around seven teenagers stomachs.

The whispering ended up becoming louder.

* * *

"I'm so angry right now. Who does the mayor think he is bossing us around?"

Heather gave Snotlout an incredulous. "Because he's the mayor. Anything he says kinda goes, Snotlout."

"He's just sore 'cause his dad lost the last election to Sköll." Tuffnut snickered, unintentionally insulting his friend. Snotlout's face only got redder since after his 'talk' with the librarian. Camicazi had recovered quicker on the other hand while she did a few cartwheels along the school courtyard during their lunch break. Fourth years had the pleasure of sharing the same lunch schedule with younger students.

Fishlegs tried to brighten the mood. "You know, Snotlout, yer father, Spitelout, did almost win if it weren't fer the… substantial victory on Sköll's behalf."

"Isn't that pretty much saying that Sköll had a landslide victory while 'Lout's dad was dead last?" Ruffnut arched an eyebrow while sighing at the ground still looking bored as ever.

"I am so hurting you!" Snotlout shouted at Fishlegs five seconds as both of them quickly ran erratically across the ground. "With mah face!"

"Ruffnut why?!" Fishlegs wheezed in terror after evading a solid punch from Snotlout.

The female Thorston smirked evilly as she watched both idiots running around. "Because seeing you sacred looking is fun."

"Hey I wanna be part of the action!" Tuffnut said stupidly before he joined in the chase. For some bizarre, reason Camicazi joined them as well but she ran along side Fishlegs giving him words of encouragement which sounded more like sexist jabs than anything else.

Casually, Astrid walked over to where Ruffnut sat and plopped down next to her.

"Ruff," the blonde in question titled her head over to show she was paying Astrid attention. "Can I talk to yoo about something?"

The blonde made a snorting sound before replying, "Well seeing how you just talked to me should be it right?"

_How obnoxious, why am I here again? Oh right, 'cause Camicazi is too busy playing chase and Heather would warn me what I am planning is an idiotic idea._ Astrid did not hold the scowl away though as she rolled her eyes. "You know, when yer not hanging out with yer twin, yoo actually say some smart-alecky things."

Ruffnut chuckled slightly. "Gotta keep the appearance that I'm stupid around him so he doesn't try to out do me in that department."

Astrid smirked with slight amusement. "Yoo really are evil, but I can bet yoo can keep a good secret right?"

Ruffnut shrugged "Depends on how secretive it is."

"Enough that yoo **don't **tell yer brother about it."

Despite the coolness of keeping a secret away from her bonehead of a brother Ruffnut still groaned overdramtically. "Fi-i-i-i-ne. I won't tell anyone."

"Good, I was planning on going to Haddock Castle; today after school."

An actual spit-take occurred when Ruffnut nearly choked on her water. "What? Yer gonna go back there?"

"Keep it down," Astrid harshly whispered to her friend. "Yes. I'm going back there and fer a good reason."

"Like~?" Ruffnut dragged out, hoping to get an answer.

Astrid shifted her eyes to where Heather was and noticed the black-haired girl wasn't paying any attention to their way. Astrid pulled her rucksack close to her and unzipped it wide enough to take out the very contents. Ruffnut's eyes nearly bugged out when she saw the bashyball in Astrid's hands.

"No way, you actually have it?" Ruffnut snarled before shoving Astrid. "Why did ya keep all this damn time when we all had to do laps!"

"Shush," Astrid whispered harshly. "Not so loud. Look I didn't have this ball with me when I got back. Don't you remember that I said I didn't have it?"

"Well it's in yer bloody hands right now-"

"-Because some weirdo left at my house last night." Astrid snapped.

Ruffnut's eyebrows vanished underneath her bangs. "Whoa. You mean someone actually had the guts to sneak to yer home and leave the ball there?" She smirked in admiration for that brave, thickheaded person. "Wicked."

Astrid sighed, "Yer missing the point Ruff this 'somebody,'" she motioned her fingers, using air quotes. "-wasn't one of us. I have proof." Astrid brandished the note from her bag and handed it over to Ruffnut though she looked at the paper with utter confusion written on her face.

"What kind of messed-up scribbles are these?"

Once again, Astrid sighed. "The note's written in cursive."

"I knew that," Ruff''s response was quick to the defensive.

"Sure ye did," Astrid deadpanned. "Anyway on the letter was attached to the bashyball when I found it by my fence. It even had this fancy looking seal on it."

Ruffnut snorted in a very unladylike manner. "Who still writes notes in this day and age anyway?"

"Stay focused Ruff' this letter was written to me by someone calling them self the 'Caretaker of Haddock Castle'… whatever that means."

"I didn't even know there was a caretaker for that place."

"I don't think there is. Someone is leading me on I just know it."

"Somebody sounds a little paranoid much." Astrid fought the urge to glare at Ruffnut.

"And fer good reason." Astrid said. "This person knows where I live. This guy had the nerve to call me out."

Ruff' gave Astrid a serious look for once and asked, "Sure yer not jus' overreacting?"

"I have every reason to act like this. I can't just sit around and let some arse think I can be teased and be messed with. I need to get the bottom of this and find out who that guy is."

"Ye sure it's some bloke that's did it and not a girl?"

Astrid rolled her eyes. "Quit smirking Ruff' it's not what yer thinkin.' The person sounded way too proud to be a lass. I cannae sit around while some goon thinks they've got the upper hand on me. I need to know what's going on at Castle Haddock."

"Even though the mayor told everyone to stay clear of that place?"

Astrid nodded, firmly. "I already busted in there once. A second time can't hurt. But I won't be there for an empty so don't ask, Ruff **(1)**.'"

Ruff' quickly shut her mouth in retaliation and pouted. "I wuzin' going to ah." She turned her attention back to Astrid. "So how are ye gonna get in the castle? Didn't Mayor Sköll say in his speech that a whole lot of coppers are gonna be there to keep trespassers?"

_I have no effin' idea. _Astrid mentally cursed.

* * *

"I still don't see what's so bad about a fish castle. Naming a castle after a haddock sounds lame." Snotlout asked in a bored tone while he was piled on top of Fishlegs with Tuffnut helping him. They both kept Camicazi at bay with their hands pressed on her face as she tried pathetically to push forward.

"Uh Snotlout," Fishlegs muttered under the two boys. "I don't think it's called Haddock Castle because of that."

Snotlout frowned at the half-buried boy. "Did I say you could talk?"

"Hey guys!" Heather called out, gaining the others attention. She placed her hands on her hips and asked, "Does anybody know what happened to Astrid and Ruffnut? I don't think they're here anymore."

All eyes turned to the small stone porch where the two blondes were last seen and lo and behold neither Astrid or Ruffnut could be found.

"Uh, guys I can't see what's going on still." Fishlegs mumbled while the others widened their eyes.

* * *

For the rest of the day Astrid and Ruffnut left for the tall grass that separated the school field from Haddock Castle. They weren't technically vacating the school grounds but the girls were leaning on the fine line between the school and castle.

"You know if they didn't want kids like us to go into the castle they shouldn't have built the school so close to it in the first place." Ruffnut pointed out while Astrid narrowed her eyes at the building in question. The boaby were already surrounding the castle while their cars were parked near the front. So going through the front door like before had to be crossed off the list.

"There has to be another way inside." Astrid muttered. "But what?"

"How did the ball get in?" Ruff' asked cryptically.

"The note said the it fell into the castle basement… yes, there's a basement here apparently. I was just as surprised as you are."

Ruff' blinked. "So did it go through a hole-"

"No it," Astrid's eyes widened in realization. "It broke through a window. Somewhere around here I think. I mean this side of the wall." She quickly got up and moved around a bit while motioning with her hands. "I, remember that you and I tripped over and the ball and it skidded across the lawn, then went toward the castle."

"Weird how things work like that." Ruff' replied in her usual bored tone.

Astrid shrugged in response. She knelt down again once she saw movement coming from the boaby. They were no longer surrounding the castle and instead walked toward the front where a car pulled up.

"Can yah see who it is?"

"No I can't, Ruff'… but I am not missing **this **opportunity." Like a bullet Astrid shot up and ran straight for the wall. She made sure to be careful with each step to keep herself from making any loud noises. Once Astrid arrived at the wall she took out a torch from her rucksack. Its silver cylinder form gleamed in her hands and pressed the light on with the push of a button. She crouched to the ground to spot any clues or some indents in the grass that marked where the ball might have rolled. When her thumb touched a shard of broken glass Astrid quickly retracted the digit. She looked carefully to the ground and noticed more shards all across the grass nearing one section to the wall. Seeing this a good sign Astrid pushed the tall reeds away and found the broken window. Much to her luck the opening was more than large enough for her slide in.

_Putting on the denim trousers before coming here was a very good idea. I'll thank Ruff' for that later. _Astrid angled her body along with shifting her weight in order to slip inside. She landed feet first on several crates that were-conveniently for her-placed right underneath the broken window. Dust formed around Astrid making her cough in the process while she turned her torch on to see into the darkness. All around Astrid were old objects dating back to ages even older than most of the people in the village collected dust of their own. Sheets half-covered furniture was stacked on top of one another while other novelties Astrid was unable to think off the top of her head could be seen.

_Half of this stuff looks like it belongs to a museum._ Astrid thought while looking at a tattered flag that caught her eye when she spotted a familiar dragon insignia nestled at its center. Her eyes narrowed for a moment until she heard a noise. A crate filled with thick rugs half-devoured by moths landed on the ground with a very obvious thud. The torch shined brightly toward the fallen fabric as Astrid's eyes seemingly shined far stronger out of fright.

_What's wrong with me? Getting scared over some rugs is ridiculous. At least the other day I had the excuse of someone nearly falling on-_

"Uh… hello." Astrid's train of thought vanished completely when she heard a nasally voice whispered. She looked straight toward the rugs again to see a figure slightly behind other crates that had fortunately remained standing. Astrid tightened her gaze as her eyes turned into slits.

"Come out into the light." _Wow, when did I get to sound so demanding?_

Whether the person was obeying Astrid or not she soon came face-to-face with someone she did not recognize in the slightest. Astrid knew just about everyone in Berkenshire, thanks to it being a small town, but this person, this boy, she never met up until now.

Standing before Astrid was the least frightening person she was expecting to come across. He didn't even appear to be any older than she was. His built was small, fairly thin with lanky arms and legs. But his beanpole shape and size was not what fazed Astrid (she had seen plenty people at her school who **wished **they were skinny as beanpole-boy, thank you very much) but was his article of clothing.

He looked like someone who didn't have a empathy of the current fashions with pants that appeared to be sown with an odd looking brown textile with old leather shoes that Astrid's grandfather wouldn't have worn for being so old. His shirt was more like a tunic than anything else since Astrid didn't see any brand names or some iconic symbol. It was a plain white tunic with a dark green vest covering it. A dark green vest with gold buttons, those made Astrid's eyebrows rise only until the next sight she took. The skinny arms wrapped nervously around the bony waist showing two hands with skin while peachy didn't appear to tanned enough like most of the other kids Astrid had seen. Her eyes trailed up until they met with a pair of the deep forest green Astrid had seen the other night. The eyes were framed by a bushy mop of reddish-brown hair that freely rested on his head a dozen or so freckles sprinkled across his face. The forest green-eyed beanpole glanced down at the ground as if from some kind of embarrassment while biting his lower lip.

_This was not what I was expecting._ Astrid thought as the complete awkwardness of the situation fell upon her.

A few minutes passed until the boy looked toward Astrid again with an earnest gaze. "Well for the first time I would be meeting someone, at all, I must admit this was not the kind of meeting I had been expect-"

WHACK!

"Why would you do that?!" The boy exclaimed in pain. Astrid tapped her torch back and forth in her hand, her bravado quickly returning after she had hit the little twerp.

"That was fer tryin' to sneak up on me!" What a great wonderful first impression for the both of them to have on the other; Astrid thinking the boy as a weak-minded coward for possibly being the guy the wronged her and the boy now starting to regret ever helping her out in the first place.

Indeed the start of a beautiful relationship.

* * *

**Q-A: **Well you all had asked for it. They meet each other. XD But honestly who did not see that one coming? Hiccup kind of had in coming since the whole letter shenanigan from the start. I hope everyone liked the portrayal of the characters. I didn't think they got to flesh out as much in the last one they were all in, you know?

**Erik – forever strong. **I figured Astrid's father would be someone tough since he'd shape a lot of her personality from his own.

**Brenda – Norse for sword or brand. **Apparently the name originated in the Shetland Isles, I couldn't pass that name up just for that alone. I did notice how similar it is to Bertha but I figured since Camicazi and Astrid are similar to a degree I figured so would their mums. ^-^ That's the kind of strong friendship Berkenshire has, the kind that can transcend lifetimes. XDDD Boy I am such a sap.

**(1) An empty **- the residents who live in the house are not present and people take advantage by having a party in the "empty" house.

Keep on Writin' and Rockin'


	6. Blue and Yellow

**Q-A: **Here we go with chapter 6. Whoot-whoot! :D For those of you who have been waiting and WAITING for Hiccup and Astrid to properly meet well here you go! It should be full of the thing you'll be expecting for sure, and as for the other stuff… quit thinking that way you pervs. XD Just kidding. By the way, the song for this chapter is The Used's _Blue and Yellow. _

**Respond to Guest Reviews: **

_DarkKingM: _I'm happy you like the story so far. XD We'll be seeing plenty of smacking/hitting in later chapters. Can't have Astrid any other way really. XDDD

**Disclaimer: **None of the characters (film/TV. series -verse and book-verse) are mine yada, yada, and something about me making the planned trilogy longer is somewhere put in there along with the mentioning's of a Toothless shrine or something or other.

* * *

**Blue and Yellow**

By this point in time, Hiccup was **really** starting to reconsider helping out Loud-Screaming girl the other day. Not only did she come back but also apparently produced some kind of blunt weapon which she used to land a blow on his crown. Hiccup's poor head swelled up in a matter of seconds. He quickly berated himself for leaving the sanctuary that was the courtyard and instead to venture into the castle underground where the aggressive maiden had only just stumbled in moments ago.

_What in God and the Norse Gods' names did she meant by sneaking up on her? _Hiccup thought while rubbing his head. _I would dare not harass a lady… more than once. Even if she does strike me down. _A great revelation soon appeared in Hiccup's thoughts._ O' my dear father must be so proud of me, being in my first fight, and I lose to a woman. Though I assume, Mother wouldn't be too upset by it. _His mother, Valhallarama, was a gracious woman like that.

Realizing the silence that had befallen upon the two Hiccup knew something needed to be done. _I can't keep a lady standing there without some sort of explanation. _

The silence was broken when Loud-Screaming girl spoke while pointing her blunt weapon at him. "Start talking," she spoke with a commanding tone Hiccup could only wish to have. "Why are you here?"

_Smart wit, she has I will give her that._ "Should I be the one to ask you that instead?" Hiccup asked without a second thought. After just comprehending the erroneous words slipping out of his mouth Hiccup panicked at what to say next and decided to continue with his train of thought, despite the looming fear that Loud-Screaming girl would hit him a second time. "I wasn't the one who broke into the castle twice in two days."

WHACK!

"Ow! Again with the striking! What on this earth has possessed you to do that?"

"That was the worst question I ever heard." Loud-Screaming girl retorted in a weak attempt of an excuse.

"But a very valid one all the same." Hiccup added with a slight smile. This girl was starting to amuse him. Her reasons for hurting him made as much sense as his rambling.

Loud-Screaming girl's scowl grew slightly when she groaned a moment later. "I'm wasting mah time, I'm not here for a beanpole."

Hiccup mouthed the word 'beanpole' in confusion while the girl ignored him and then said, "I don't have to explain anything to you. Now if you excuse me, I have someone I need to have a word with."

Loud-Screaming girl began to walk away from Hiccup until he realized what she just said. "And who would that person be exactly?"

"I don't have to answer to you." She started walking away. Hiccup wasn't sure whether to follow her or not. _So ends my tea plans with her and Toothless. _He of course was not being remotely serious, but Hiccup always did like putting as much dry humor into any situation as possible.

The blonde haired girl stopped and turned around, her frown deepened. "Wait, you said earlier that I came here twice, how did you know that?"

_Well I am in trouble. _Hiccup sighed. "Well if you must know…. I have been living here for sometime-not forever-just, um," he trailed off. This was a lot harder than he had anticipated. He was breaking every rule his parents had laid out for him; never go outside of the castle, talk to no one other than Mother and Father, and **never** let anyone inside the castle, so far Hiccup managed to botch everything on that list.

Quietly Hiccup sighed again, this time pinching the bridge of his nose. "Listen, Miss I would **love **to continue this conversation with you, believe me I like getting abused, but I'm tired, I had a long day and-you're still glowering at me like a lion ready for the kill."

"Good observation." The girl barked with crystal-blue eyes in a rage, yellow eyebrows furrowing. "Don't be around the bush, were. You. Following.** Me?**"

Loud-Screaming girl pointed her blunt weapon at Hiccup again. It would seem the girl had got the idea of using the metal cylinder against him.

As he looked to the ground, intimidated by Loud-Screaming girl, Hiccup muttered, "Maybe. Most likely. Definitely, but do understand I was looking out for you and nothing else." He braced himself for another attack by the dreaded blunt weapon, but seconds passed when Hiccup opened his eyes and saw that the girl was staring at him. Green eyes blinked in confusion before Hiccup asked nervously, "Are you going to hit me again with that metal stick of yours?"

Loud-Screaming girl blinked as well and sputtered in the most unusual manner Hiccup did not expect from her. She ignored Hiccup's previous question and instead an entirely different one. "Are yoo trying to tell me that yoo-yer the Caretaker? Yer the one that sent me that note and returned the bashyball to my house?"

Without missing a beat Hiccup nodded slowly, "Yes, that was I." He smiled anxiously.

Perhaps Loud-Screaming girl was going stop hitting him and instead offer a hand of friendship. Oh, yes that would be so wonderful for Hiccup to have a kindred spirit outside of the reptile variety. He could already picture all the enjoyable things that would occur once they became friends… he wasn't able to think up anything. Hiccup never had a human friend before how in the Lord and Odin's names was he going to figure something like that out? Could any of the books in the giant library be some use to him? Were there any books that discussed the issues revolving around friendship? Or maybe he could ask Tooth-

_No, _Hiccup mentally shook his head. _Bad idea. Definitely a bad idea. _

Hiccup was taken out of his thoughts when the girl spoke up again. "He-yoo-yer both…" She groaned in exasperation while slapping her forehead with her free hand. She then uttered several words that were very uncouth for a woman to speak aloud. Her blue eyes hardened for one moment, making Hiccup fear for his life again until those hard eyes inexplicably softened and held a sort of roundness to them. She was no longer scowling either with her features suddenly becoming unreadable, and she looked to the ground. Hiccup was unsure about these shifting events as the girl looked less angry and more… pensive. A part of him wondered if she some plan thought out only for it have been ruined by his answer.

_I'm quite worried right now. _Hiccup thought with great unease. _I do hope this won't end like those Edgar Allen Poe stories I had so mistakenly read. Oh, if this woman stabs me in the heart and stashes it away beneath the floorboard-_

"And here I thought yoo'd be a head taller and older than mah dad." Loud-Screaming girl sighed as she rubbed her head. She looked over at Hiccup with a tired expression that readily showed her looking very annoyed. "This would've been so much easier if yoo were some plastered geezer living here as some crazed hermit."

_She is not too far off from the old hermit guise. Shame the curse hasn't allowed me to look that part though. Not sure what 'plastered' means though. I might ask Toothless that one later. _

"Well I can assure you, Miss, I am the Castle Caretaker. I apologize if my build doesn't fit your criteria of a 'proper caretaker' but this is all you will get, I promise you."

_Or at least the part I am willing t reveal that is._

Loud-Screaming girl looked at Hiccup with a confounded look. "Why are yoo even talking like that? We're not in 'Jolly Ol' Britain.'" Her eyes narrowed again but this time more out of annoyance than genuine anger. "And what's with this Miss stuff? I have a name yoo know."

"Honestly I don't know." Hiccup replied in a snarky tone. _Gods' and God, I never behaved like this before. This woman is being a rather horrible influence on me. _He wasn't sure whether he preferred it that way or not since he was no on the fence over the whole idealistic friendship anymore. "If I recall you have not given me a name."

"Well it's better that yoo don't." She replied coldly with her arms crossed and turning away.

_And she finds **my** accent odd? _"Look I can obviously see that you came here for some sort of brawl coming from your choice of clothing and that blunt weapon of yours."

"What weapon?" Hiccup motioned his head toward the silver cylinder rod in the blonde's hand. She glanced at it for a second before giving him another look. "This is mah torch. I brought it with me in case it got dark again, and I would need a light."

It was Hiccup's turn to give the girl a look. "Miss, I have seen my fair share of torches, and that looks nothing like the ones I have seen before. It's made out of metal; you can't light a flame over it."

With an arched eyebrow and dropped jaw the girl retorted, "This is doesn't need a fire, stupid. The light-bulb turns on and-wait why am I even explaining this to yoo?"

"I honestly do not know," seemed to be the best response for Hiccup during this situation.

She groaned again this time lowering her 'torch' (yeah, Hiccup didn't believe that, not by a long shot) in the process. Hiccup wondered if she were beginning to see how incredulous this whole experience was turning out. For something that started out violent it turned into something rather awkward.

"So," the girl began with uncertainty. "What yer trying to say is that yer the caretaker and the same guy that brought back the ball too?"

Hiccup nodded wordlessly.

Another groan emitted from her. "I'm such a git. I came all this way for a confrontation with some old man when instead I'm confronted with…" She looked over at Hiccup with what appeared to be a evaluating gaze before concluding, "This."

While slightly put off, Hiccup gestured to himself and said, "But you just pointed to **all** me."

"Yeah," the girl replied in an equally objected manner. "All of you, that's not in any way intimidating."

Did she really just say that?

Hiccup narrowed his eyes before he mockingly warned Loud-Screaming girl. "Miss, you are in the domain of a dangerous brute." He began to sound more exasperated with each word. "Insinuating that I cannot be fierce will lead to serious trouble."

The girl looked at him with confusion before she resumed her annoyed expression. "Yer a weird one, yoo know that?"

Hiccup was really getting tired of being reminded of that. "Yes, I know." He replied, teeth scrapping in his jaw.

"I was talking about yer accent and attitude." The girl excused herself.

Hiccup rolled his eyes, not believing a word of it. "Forgive me if I can't withhold my manner of speaking." He wanted to add that her accent sounded ridiculous to him but held against it since he was still trying to play a good host.

"Seriously stop." She placed a hand over her head. "This is just so much to sink in right now fer me."

"Tell me about it." Hiccup sighed. He walked over to where a crate laid and plopped on it unceremoniously. The girl gave him a strange look.

"The constables are still surrounding the perimeter of the castle," Hiccup explained. "Might as well get comfortable and wait until they leave."

"Yoo've got to me kidding me."

Hiccup arched an eyebrow in confusion. "Not sure what goats have to do with this so-"

The girl raised a hand, silencing Hiccup. "We're obviously at a crossroads."

"I couldn't agree more." The cursed boy had suffered enough from the wicked hand of the bloodthirsty maiden. He did not want there to be an impasse to go along with the growing list of irritants between both adolescents.

"Let's just… we should start over." Loud-Screaming girl said finally. Her scowl was less apparent, though her eyes still held apprehension toward the boy. Hiccup wanted to wallow in despair; the girl appeared to be unyielding to trust him.

"Shall we start with names?" Hiccup offered in a hopeful tone. _She has to confide_ _**some **__trust in me_

The girl made a snort to assert her displeasure in that suggestion. "Like I would give yoo mah name."

Scratch that, she doesn't trust Hiccup in the slightest way possible.

"Then what are we to do? Simply give each other false façades until some trust is built?" Hiccup would regret voicing his thoughts later.

Loud-Screaming girl suddenly held a brightened look that quirked Hiccup's mild interest until she declared, "That's what I'll do fer now. And so will yoo." She pointed toward Hiccup.

"I will?"

"Glad yoo already agree with me."

"I did no such thing." Hiccup to the proud looking girl. He stood up from his box and narrowed his eyes at her. "I would rather like it better for you to leave than do such a ridiculous idea." _Dear God and Odin, what am I saying? _

"Well, the only way fer me to leave would is to go through the front door," Loud-Screaming girl pointed to a random spot of the ceiling where the door might've been located at. "But~ obviously there are some policemen outside, and something tells me that yoo would rather like that no one knows that a hermit is living here."

_She compares me to a-a waif? Oh-wait she mentioned the police!_ "Now just you listen here-"

"I could scream yoo know." She replied quickly with a smirk when Hiccup gaped at her. "And then they'll come chargin' in with guns blazing all over-"

"Fine, fine," Hiccup raised his hands in defeat. He sighed. "Fine, we can go with the false names. I wouldn't have assumed someone like you cared about that sort of thing."

"I'm tired of yoo callin' me Miss all the time." Loud-Screaming girl replied. "'S getting on mah nerves and such."

_If that were the only excuse. _Hiccup wasn't sure if he were bewildered or amused by this strange girl's ways. She was so different from his mother and yet held herself in a way that was frighteningly similar to the proud and fierce Valhallarama.

"What would you prefer me to call you?" Hiccup asked after a short moment of silence.

The girl shrugged, her braided hair flipping off one shoulder before falling into the middle of her back. "Anything that's not an insult."

Hiccup held back a smile; the girl was indeed amusing when she wasn't acting tense. To Hiccup, she might actually be someone with a good sense of humor. All he needed was to earn her trust and become her friend. Yes, Hiccup was so desperate for companionship outside of his dragon kin that he was willing to befriend the same person that struck him earlier. The first thing he should do to get in the girl's good graces was to call her by a name that was the least insulting. He didn't desire to give her a name that was too flattering on the fear she might take it the wrong way. Whichever way it would be wasn't something Hiccup wished to know. He still wanted the name to be meaningful though, something that was memorable for him while also being slightly endearing.

_Fearless, for her bravery in coming her? _Hiccup initially thought. _No, that would just be a reproduction of Toothless and __**he **__wouldn't be pleased about that. _

"I'm still here yoo know." Loud-Screaming girl snapped.

Without thinking, Hiccup started to say his mother's name. "Val-" he bit his tongue and then covered his mouth out of embarrassment.

The girl stared at him curiously. "Val?"

"No wait!" Hiccup waved his hands. "Val… Valkyrie. That's it that'll be your name."

She arched an eyebrow at him, her devoid of the slightest expression as though contemplating over the name. After what felt like an eternity to Hiccup the girl finally said, "Fine, it's a bit odd but beggars can't be choosers."

Hiccup titled his head in slight amusement of that foreign phrase. Just about everything Loud-no, Valkyrie has said that afternoon while aggressive and fierce still acted with the familiar derring-can-do attitude from yesterday. He also found the little phrase she had just uttered to be a fine rendition to his old favorite 'never look a gift horse in the mouth.' Somehow Hiccup was starting to warm up to Valkyrie; she was starting to sound like someone he could truly be friends with.

Valkyrie peered over toward Hiccup with her blue eyes staring down at him with such intensity that it made him feel his mouth dry up. "And I'll call you… Hermit."

And now that trust was squandered in a heartbeat. Hiccup wasn't sure which he was more annoyed with; the fact that he gave the blonde girl a very nice and fitting name, while he got thoughtlessly saddled with Hermit, or that Hermit was frighteningly similar sounding to his actual name.

Hiccup held a look of utter disbelief at the girl before he started, "Not sure whether to be offended or insulted. I think I will go with offended."

"Would you prefer 'Stalker' instead?" Valkyrie suggested while gesturing her free hand.

"Hermit it is then." Hiccup said with forced enthusiasm.

Another awkward silence fell upon the two as the constables outside remained completely unaware of the occupants inside the not-so haunted castle. Hiccup was unsure what to do next with his knowledge of socializing lacking at best. He wanted to say something to Valkyrie, but he wasn't all that set on what to speak about. His contact to the outside was a fire breathing pain-in-the-neck that would rather eat an eel than befriend a human... And yet, Toothless was friends with Hiccup despite him being human during daylight hours.

_He just never shows up when the sun is though._ Hiccup thought with some bitterness. _Of course, his excuse is that he doesn't want to be spotted by dragon hunters, even if they haven't been around since two hundred years ago._

"So, now what?" Valkyrie asked; dullness etched in her voice.

"Until the constables leave, I suppose just, you and me will stay here and wait."

That didn't seem to sit well with Valkyrie as she gave Hiccup a side look and replied, "Nope, just you." Seconds later she started to head straight for the door that Hiccup had neglected to close shut.

"Where do you think you're going?" Hiccup asked with crossed arms. He made a beeline toward the door and intercepted the blonde before she could reach the handle.

"Leaving, that's where."

"You **do **remember that there are constables outside waiting for to look for trespassers."

"Like us?" That she-devil smirked with an accusing brow. The nerve! Her assuming the worst, and that he was a hooligan like she… well the tribe had once nicknamed themselves the Hairy Hooligans at one point but that was beside the point!

Hiccup grumbled in annoyance and glowered to the ground. His new friend was quite precocious, or perhaps pretentious was the proper word. Either way Hiccup was very confused by Valkyrie's behavior. First she wanted to strike him down with everything she got but now she was willing to forgive and (read never) forget the whole situation? But instead she wished to leave.

"I am not very sure how I can be a help in that with leaving the castle without the constables noticing."

"So we're stuck here." Valkyrie puffed out a sigh. She found a crate for herself to sit upon while propping her hands underneath her chin, the metal weapon lying casually to her side. More of the dreaded awkward silence fell again. Hiccup soon followed her example and unknowingly sat on

A small thought stuck Hiccup's mind when he **did **remember a way out… the only problem was that he did not know whether showing it to Valkyrie was a good idea or not. If she knew about the other way out there was a high chance, she might exploit it. Hiccup still felt guilty about the treachery to his parents' wishes. He already broke far too many rules; he couldn't add more to the list.

_But I honestly do not know if she would even come back if I show her the __**other **__way out. She may or she won't that's all I can trust her with right now. That's all it is really, lending enough trust to her. _Hiccup's thoughts soon trailed off to when he first met Toothless again. The full Night Fury promised the dragon boy that he would return after the first night. Hiccup remembered how worried he was as he waited for night to fall and grew more anxious as the first stars flickered into the sky and there was no sign of the dragon. The cursed boy was ready to accept his sadness when Toothless flew into the tower's roof right on cue, earning an ecstatic hug from the bipedal Night Fury. Hiccup could've seen it coming really, that giant reptile could be heard a kilometer away with his loud calls-

_Wait, that's it! _Hiccup thought jubilantly. He jumped off of his seat and quickly (but cautiously) stood to where Valkyrie sat. Another fiendishly clever plan of his rattled through his brain while Hiccup beamed enthusiastically at the girl. Valkyrie, on the other hand, looked at him with hopeless confusion that mingled with a hint of uncertainty.

"I know how to get you out of here!"

"How," asked Valkyrie. "The boabies are crawling along the sides of the castle walls." She was in obvious disagreement with Hiccup. "There's no way I can-"

"There is," Hiccup promised while interrupting her at the same time. Out of politeness Hiccup bent down to the floor and picked up the blunt weapon. For that brief moment, he held it in his hands Hiccup did somewhat see the properties that made the metal cylinder appear to work like a torch-he of course would never admit this outside of his thoughts, never ever. Without skipping a beat Hiccup handed it over to Valkyrie, not once anticipating for her to hit him again.

Surprisingly she did not.

"Okay," Valkyrie spoke with her voice still unwavering a bit. "So what's the plan? If there is one, that is."

All Hiccup did was smile.

* * *

By far this had got to be unrelievedly boring, most of the constables thought while they listened to their mayor discussing plans on searching the castle. While most of them were uneasy about going inside the very thing their own parents had once warned them to never go inside, the constables were starting to get a little jaded and impatient. They were growing bored with their fearless leader going on and on about what they were planning to do once inside the castle when they weren't even in it yet. How the bloody hell Mayor Sköll ever got anything done with all his talking, and scheming was beyond any of their understanding.

"So once we get around through the west end, the fourth group will be making the trek by the east and travel up through near…" The mayor's voice trailed off when an unusual sound cry echoed.

"What in the devil?" Sköll exclaimed right before another roar was heard near the cliffs.

"It came down there!" The Chief Constable pointed at the edge before charging away blindly. The rest of the force followed suit to the cliffs that were several yards away. Sköll sighed exasperatedly before following suit. Not one of those adults noticed or heard the grand doors near the front of the castle opening by a slight gap with two heads poking out.

_I am finding it hard to believe that actually worked._ Hiccup thought, proud of himself.

"That was the strangest bird call I ever heard." Valkyrie spoke in a tone that sounded like she honestly did not believe it was a birdcall. Hiccup became self-aware of how close he and she were and instinctively pushed the door wider to let out more space.

"Yes well, I have had a lot of practice." Hiccup replied sheepishly. The call he really made was based on a Gronckle friend of Toothless' that the boy vaguely remembered was called Meatlug.

An odd name for a female Gronckle but Toothless told him that Meatlug's parents wanted a male.

"Sound like something out of _Jurassic Park _though."

"What?"

"Nevermind," Valkyrie quickly said before she made her leave. That insufferable pain from before came to Hiccup again when he watched her walking away. Much to his surprise (and joy) she paused momentarily and turned around.

_Wait she can't just stand there. The constables might see her! _Hiccup panicked with him mentally pulling his hair out.

"Hermit," It was the second time Valkyrie called out to him through that false name; still Hiccup could not help but feel some sort of contentment for finally being called out by someone, someone that was human at least.

"Y-yes." He mentally scolded himself for stuttering. He thought he fixed that problem during the mid-nineteenth century.

The blonde girl looked toward the ground briefly before drawing her attention back toward Hiccup. "You honestly don't live in the village at all, do you?"

Hiccup felt a little offended that Valkyrie still lacked the will to trust him… Though she did have every right to since he still told practically nothing about his true self, and she now knew, he was the one that went to her house. That part he wished she did not know about. He was happy that she had not asked about the incident when he fell from the ceiling. A part of him wanted to believe that she held enough trust to not bring that subject, but his far more reasonable-and cynical-part offered that she might have forgotten the whole moment entirely.

Hiccup knew that keeping the lady waiting was not the best move for him at this point in time and reluctantly nodded in response to her question.

A small hint of sympathy appeared on Valkyrie's face before she asked, "How long have you been living here?"

"For…." Hiccup started to answer before trailing off. _What should I say? Tell her I have been in this castle since 1796? _"For some time." He decided on. Half of what he said was truthful, even though he still felt like he was lying to her.

"I'll come back." Valkyrie said much to Hiccup's astonishment.

"What?" Hiccup knew this all had to be a dream.

"I said 'I'll come back,'" she said again. "Don't ask why…" Valkyrie spoke something on the side that was too low for Hiccup to hear before she added, "Just… don't take this whole thing the wrong way."

Hiccup shook his head. "I am not."

Valkyrie nodded once. "Good. I don't know when I'll be commin', but yoo will be seeing me again. There's a whole lot that I need tah talk tah yoo about, and I hate not having questions answered."

Hiccup was starting to feel a little worried. "Is that really such a good idea?"

Valkyrie interrupted him. "Of course. Yoo're a complete hermit here and need somebody to talk with. Plus, I hit yoo on the head earlier."

"Twice," Hiccup reminded her while rubbing the bruise on his head. He winced slightly from the pain and Valkyrie, oddly enough, followed suit.

"Until yer head gets better I'll be seeing yoo." Valkyrie promised with the upmost sincerity.

"You will," Hiccup could no longer hide the happiness he was feeling in this moment. "I would hate for you to waste your time here," his memory of her complaining about pointlessly sneaking into the castle was fresh in his mind.

Valkyrie ignored the last part whether on purpose or not as she said, "Yeah, at least until yer head is fine." She clearly wanted to make this whole thing strictly made as an obligation, but Hiccup still reveling in the fact he now had a human willing to speak with him and come see him not once, twice, but **three **times. At least it will be three when she comes again whenever that will be. "And Hermit."

While trying not to look irritated Hiccup said, "Yes?"

Valkyrie looked at Hiccup for a moment before she shook her head. "Most of mah time here wasn't entirely wasted just to let yoo know, at least by the end it got a lot better." Her blue eyes shimmered with some sort of mirth Hiccup could not put his finger on and then she flicked her bright yellow braid. Without another word, Valkyrie eventually walked away before she picked up her pace and ran down the rocky path, conveniently avoiding being spotted by the constables.

Hiccup watched Valkyrie's fleeting form long after she was no longer visible from his sight. He closed the door completely when he heard the faint sound of the disgruntled men returning from the cliffside. Judging by the dirty uniforms and sweat Hiccup correctly guessed that the constables came up with the clever idea of climbing down the cliffs to see where the noise came from. The best part came from that instead of going toward the castle which Hiccup initially thought they all went back to their automobiles instead, despite the protests from the tall, burly man Hiccup remembered hearing from the other night.

_I guess can say that my time was not wasted today either. _Hiccup thought with an amusing smirk as he quietly shut the grand doors.

* * *

**Q-A: **I AM SUPER, SUPER, SUPER, SORRY! I can't believe how long it took to get all of this written out. College and pure laziness can do that to a person. But I thank all of those how still favored and followed my story despite the long wait. I can also blame _Dragons: Defenders of Berk. _That new season is awesome. If you haven't seen it yet (and watched the first one) GO watch it!

Keep on Writin' and Rockin'


	7. At the End of August

**Q-A: **Who else feels sadden by the two-week break of _Dragons: Defenders of Berk_? D; I'm telling ya; Cartoon Network is making a big mistake with that choice. But hey, at least I am still updating am I right? XD It's not the same but at least it's something. Thank you all very much for the 40 reviews! And let's not forget the followers and favorites; they're all very nice too. The song that inspired this chapter is _At the End of August _by 36 Crazyfists.

**Disclaimer: **None of this is mine. The story idea IS mine but the characters belong to Cressdia Cowell and Dreamworks respectively.

* * *

**At the End of August **

August 25th 2010 (Berkenshire Secondary School, 7th Period English)~

"So are yoo jus' gonna be quiet like yoo were this mornin' or actually tell me something." Ruffnut half-whispered to Astrid. The Thorston girl, along with the rest of the gang, had apparently held some concern for the Hofferson girl since that morning.

The shorter blonde held back an irritated grunt. Astrid was not in the mood to talk. She rarely was until recently. Her visit to Haddock Castle left Astrid with a lot to mull over. Out of all the inklings Astrid had pictured in her head, she never once thought of, well someone actually residing inside the castle. Everyone in town knew to stay clear of the place and yet that boy seemingly paid no heed to the law. He acted like he was. …comfortable with living in those kind of conditions. No sane person in his or her right mind could be comfortable living like the way Hermit did, and yet he was completely casual about it all. Well, at least from what she noticed from yesterday.

_He's definitely hiding something._ Astrid thought. _Something that I am going to find out. _It was the first plan she had come up since the other night. Her mind had been in a daze from the experience she had at Haddock Castle. It was only until she finally returned home that her thoughts weaved into place again, and she could properly formulate a plan. Her plan so far was to learn more about Hermit and find out the truth of who he really was. The first thing she would need to do was earn his trust in order to get the boy to lower his guard on her.

_That shouldn't be too hard from the way he behaved yesterday. He acted nervous around me, like he was afraid he would say something insulting. Hermit's a cheeky devil, but not some silly ass… well maybe a little bit perhaps. _Astrid felt her lip nearly curl into what appeared to be a smile. _Me? Smiling over some boy? _

And with a boy she only met the other day?_ Oh no, not me… _

"-strid, ASTRID!"

"Wh-wha," Astrid started with a dazed expression. Around her, the sound of snickering was heard. Her ears turned a slight pink.

"Thank ye, Ruffnut fer giving yer classmate a wake-up call." Gobber expressed gratitude to the female Thorston. He gave Astrid a raised eyebrow out of interest but continued not speaking directly at her. It was uncommon to see the usually determined girl zone out of class studies; this was new even to Astrid. "Now as I was sayin,' at the end of August yoo lot will be startin' on a reading project."

Collective groans replaced the snickering.

"Wait a minute, read?" Tuffnut exclaimed in outermost horror.

"While we're still alive?" Ruffnut followed suit with her head dropping in despair.

"What's the point of reading when the stuff the books tell you the stuff to do?" Snotlout lamented in a manly way.

Astrid heard Fishlegs being the only one showing some form of joy over the project while she decided to keep her feelings to herself as always. She honestly had no ill strife with a book report, a lot less than the whole damned journal assignment at least. All that was needed to do was for her to find a book, write out the 'special meaning' it was conveying, which could be found and easily altered from _SparkNotes_. Then later conclude what chapter spoke the most to her (read heavy sarcasm).

"This year the book report is goin' tah be a wee bit different from the ones yoo all might be used to." Gobber resumed after he silenced them all with his hammered arm again. "The book yoo need to read will be of yer choosin,' but it must be over 250 words and the pages worth being two and a half. It's all in the assignment sheet I'll be given ya before the end of class."

The groaning resumed again.

* * *

The rest of the class period carried on until the bell eventually rang. Bashyball practice returned with a triumphant uproar from the group when Gobber announced the bashyball was returned to his office the other night. Astrid was given a few richly deserved thank-yous for that accomplishment. Sadly the crushing and bruising had to come to an end when practice was over. The sweaty teammates dispersed to the showers right after practice.

"I was jus' havin' fun when Gobber blew the whistle." Camicazi said unhappily, wringing her hair dry with a towel.

"Yeah, why did it have to end so soon?" Ruffnut agreed though hers sounded muffled, due

"Not soon enough," Astrid heard Heather muttered under her breath. The blonde rolled her eyes but remained silent. She didn't care what Heather and Fishlegs' views on Bashyball were. As long as she was allowed to continue playing it, Astrid was perfectly fine. So what if they didn't like getting bruised? A game can only be fun if a scar is gained from it.

"The worst part is with practice over, we now 'ave to start on our reading projects." Ruffnut griped before adding a word that would make Gobber blush. She stood by the mirrors along with Astrid and Heather fixing up their hair.

Camicazi chortled. "Sucks to be you lot."

Astrid smirked knowingly. "Don't act so high and mighty, Cami, yoo'll have tah do the project in a year's time like us."

The smaller blonde immediately ceased her giggling.

Ruffnut sniggered, "Good one, Astrid."

"It's the truth."

"A harsh truth." Cami' sighed.

Heather gave her underclassman a reassuring shoulder squeeze. "Don't listen to them. The project isn't all that bad."

Camicazi shook her head and raised her chin. "Who said I was scared?"

"No one I-"

"Nobody in Berkenshire is afraid of anythin.'" The young Bog girl struck a pose before reciting the town's oldest and most famous motto. "'Only the Strong can Belong.'"

"Here, here!" Ruff whistled on agreement.

Heather sighed. "I keep fergetting how things are different here then they were back in my old town."

"Getting homesick?" Ruffnut asked teasingly.

Heather furrowed her eyebrows for a moment before replying in a still voice. "Yoo know, I don' think I remember much about mah old village before moving here." The discusssion differed between the black haired girl and the two talkative blondes; Astrid continued untangling her hair. Her eyes stared into the mirror as she brushed her hair into a more manageable mess. She was so focused on her work that Astrid almost didn't notice the burning glass lantern behind her hanging on the wall. Astrid blinked in confusion for a brief moment and just as quickly as the lantern appeared… it vanished.

"Astrid," Ruffnut chimed, her timing impeccable. "That has got to be the twelfth time I call yoo out today and zoned out. What. Is. Going. On?"

Astrid inwardly scowled, angered that her odd moment ended when it did. "**Nothin**.' E'erything is fine. I jus' have a lot on my mind is all." Some part of that held truth, though the other half wasn't so sure.

"Well I was tryin' to ask ya if yoo were still gonna come with me to the school library toh get the books."

"I already picked mine out," Astrid fibbed. She knew perfectly well what Ruffnut was interested in. The Thorston girl never willingly went to the library unless Gobber, or some other unlucky soul, had the 'pleasure' of dragging her in themselves. Ruffnut wanted to talk about the second trip into Haddock Castle. While Astrid never openly promised to tell Ruff' what she exactly saw inside, she no longer wanted to after crossing paths with Hermit. It would've been so embarrassing to admit she made a mistake and thought some beanpole was more than a nuisance.

_A nuisance who's head I bruised overzealously. _That horrible feeling of guilt swelled inside Astrid again. She was starting to dislike that feeling the many times it came out today.

"Hate toh break it to ya, Ruffnut but I heard from Gobber that we can't go into the school library."

Ruffnut stared at Heather incredulously. "Why not?" Astrid did hear a premature sigh of relief from her friend though.

"Something about some renovations to fix up a pipe or something." Heather answered with a shrug from her shoulders, hinting she didn't know any more details.

"This doesn't prevent us from doing the project though," Heather adding, earning a strangled yell from the Thorston girl. "Gobber said we might have to try the town library for books instead. The boys will come with us after we get out of here since I told them already."

"Great to put us in the loop, Heather." Ruffnut did not sound the least bit pleased. Astrid nearly sighed in relief. So it would seem she and Ruff' weren't going to be alone at the library after all.

"Let's just get it over with," Astrid spoke up, straightened her hair to its proper form and walked to the door. Her classmates followed suit.

"Oi, wait up! Wait fer me!" Cami' shouted her clothes not all worn, unlike the others. She scrambled her things together in less than five seconds and went bounding out of the shower room.

* * *

Since practice, this time wasn't extended with a long lap exercise the gang walked through town with plenty of sunlight still streaming above the sky. The town's established marketplace was in its very center with the library not too far off. Thanks to the invention of the Internet and wireless interlinking, the library had seen better days. The building needed a new paint; dust covered various corners of the walls, and a few spider-webs could be seen.

"This place is awful for my asthma," Fishlegs complained. He coughed after breathing in some dust particles.

"Stay quiet, boy." A whisper broke through. The gang quickly turned around to see Harry Hartslicerson. He was usually seen as their school librarian, being very obsessed with keeping all his books in place. There were rumors that he had dogs to sniff after an overdue book and chase the poor soul that forgot to bring it back.

"I-I didn't know you worked here, Mr. Hartslicerson." Fishlegs stuttered.

The long bearded man clicked his tongue, looking more offended by the second. "Nay, I don't work 'ere. She does though." He jerked his body to his right to reveal a new shapely sight. A woman in her early twenties stood behind the school librarian in great contrast to his shorter, wider form. She was dressed in business suit-like outfit that should've been too tight to wear yet it did not seem to bother her in the slightest. Her red hair was tied in to a firm ponytail that almost reached her back from being so long. Despite being a rather beautiful young woman, she held an ugly expressionless mien.

"Ms. O'UGerly." The scary school librarian said his tone sounding forced.

"Tantrum," the young woman corrected her tone equal to the older man's.

Astrid could practically see the tension radiating from the two adults before her. In order to prevent an all out brawl in the library Astrid coughed awkwardly on purpose, gaining the two respected librarians attention.

"Ere, right." Harry straightened himself up, pushing his drooping beard under his belt (Astrid inwardly gagged while the others did show their genuine disgust) and hobbled past the students. He walked straight toward the same front doors Astrid, and the gang had only just walked through minutes before. He paused his procession long enough to glance at Tantrum before scowling and hurrying along his way. The doors were opened and closed with a large slam.

"Hi, Tantrum." Fishlegs waved shyly.

Tantrum waved halfheartedly. "Hullo. Gobber called me, saying you lot need some books fer a project."

The teenagers nodded accordingly. "Very well, I'll show ya the section fer the books that should fit the criteria jus' fine. I had tah do the project when I was still in school." She shuddered. "Never found much use fer it, despite mah current situation."

"Should I ask what the school librarian was doing in the town library?" Camicazi inquired though she sounded like she was asking something else entirely different.

Tantrum's usual frown deepened further. "Harry and mah Da don't always see eye toh eye with one another. Naturally Harry finds it unreasonable fer me to be handlin' a job he believes he should be doin.'" She turned left to one corridor of bookshelves to appear right in front of another wall of books. Tantrum causally walked to her left, going down another hall again.

"Tch, figures a **man **would think a girl can't handle things on 'er own."

"I think any woman can do fine by themselves," Snotlout started rather smoothly before messing it with getting ahead of himself. "But any lady can ask me fer an extra hand around," he didn't get time to finish when abnormally large book fell on his foot. Seconds later Snotlout whined while keeping his mouth shut.

"Snotlout goes after any woman with breasts." Astrid sighed with an eye roll.

Heather held back a laugh. "Funny, he doesn't show signs of interest toward Camicazi." She peered toward the shorter girl and couldn't help but notice the smug look on Camicazi's features when she looked at the pained Snotlout.

"Correction, Snotlout flirts with any girl that has breasts **and** is between the ages of fourteen and twenty."

Ruffnut overheard the two girls and snickered along with them.

"How much longer 'til we get there?" Tuffnut asked impatiently. While the almost-brawl earlier got his undivided attention for a few moments, it died down after the conflict ended, as well.

"Just a few ways and ah, here we are." Tantrum's lip held the ghost of a curled lip all the while she flourished her right arm toward an empty room. Well it wasn't exactly a room per say, more like three bookshelves surrounding a medium sized table covered with a few stack of books and several chairs partly tucked under the table.

"This should be a good place to start." Tantrum said, already making her way out of the non-natural room. "Jus' call if ye need anything."

"If she could hear us," Ruffnut muttered a few minutes later. She was in a rather stingy since Tantrum made her appearance, though Astrid couldn't blame her. Most women did feel self-conscious after coming across Tantrum. There was a reason she was the most sought after girl in her Seventh Year class back when the gang was still in Primary Three. Unfortunately, Tantrum was not only thr most perused woman, but also the most available with her father, Ug O'UGerly, being very overprotective of his daughter. Astrid could count with one hand of the number of steady relationships Tantrum actually held after she graduated. It didn't help Tantrum much when her father requested her to have the most isolated job in Berkenshire, which was being the librarian for the town's library.

Astrid was more than happy to know her father didn't get overprotective on her. They had an unspoken understanding that Astrid was more than capable in handling herself in a boy's weak attempt at flirting with her. Snotlout was so far the only guy not to wise up in to seeing that she wasn't interested in him. Since he was harmless in his own right, Astrid tended to ignore him and vent her aggression when Bashyball practice came around.

Bloody, but effective.

The rest of the half-hour passed unceremoniously with the gang settling with a routine of finding a book, vaguely skimming through the first pages, then chucking away before doing the whole procedure all over again. Fishlegs was the only one still reading the first book he picked up while Heather was reading the backs to inquire about the summary until she would find a book that would catch her fancy. Camicazi attempted (read attempted) to entertain herself by stacking large amount of books into a pile and played a haphazard game of _Jenga_. Fishlegs was so immersed in his book that he didn't even try to stop her. Astrid sat idly, watching her friends with no book in her hands. Astrid knew that her personal library did not have the exact books Gobber would approve to read since the project required a student to pick out a book they never even read before.

_I might as well do something with mah time here._ Astrid finally decided to leave the room. If she were in a library, it would be better for her to invest in the opportunity and actually go find a book.

"Where are yoo goin'?" Camicazi was the first to ask. Her Jenga stack toppled over Fishlegs by mistake.

"Gonna go look around fer a bit." Astrid responded without a beat.

"Didn't ferget yer book now did ya?"

_Of course, Ruff' is wise enough to pick out mah lie. _"I didn't. I was thinking about getting something else fer my interest. This is a public library after all."

With that said, Astrid left the others to their own devices.

* * *

Traversing through the makeshift halls weren't all that easy with no Tantrum to guide you. Despite that handicap, Astrid was not the least bit phased. She had been inside the library plenty times before with her mum; it was easy to find the front door. But of course that wasn't the destination Astrid was looking for. She was still searching for one book that would be at her reading level and fit the criteria for Gobber's appointed task.

_There has to be one book here that is good enough to look over._ Astrid thought in bitterness. Sadly she had no such luck. Most of the books she noticed were titled with the oddest of names; _The Encyclopedia Barbaria, Swordfighting with Style, _and even stranger, a book that looked like a manual on training a shark for a pet. Astrid always thought her village was different for once being a Viking's settlement, but now she was starting to believe there was something very bizarre going on.

She turned away toward a new area and started to go one way until something caught her eye. On the other side of the hall, a shelf's wooden frame stood opposite to the sill was the burnt stamp of a red circle showing a fish. Astrid stared at the image, curiosity getting the better of her, as her feet began to move on their own. While the last bookshelf clearly held a few oddities, this one, _**oh**__,_ this one, took everything else by storm.

One book bound with leather lay resting one a lone shelf. No other book could be seen in sight. The title was the first thing that caught Astrid's attention.

"_The Book of Dragons _by Bork Einarðr **(1)**? Weird name." Astrid observed while pulling the book from its place. Her eyes barely glanced at the cover before her eyes widened.

* * *

"One copy on _Bowen's Book of Botany_." Tantrum said while stamping the book's designated page. She handed it back to Fishlegs. "Have fun with that."

"Oh, it will be a very fascinating read I'm sure." Fishlegs replied with a smile.

"Yeah, yoo do that. Next!"

The line for the book checkout couldn't have been any longer to Astrid. For the first time in a long time, Astrid could remember; she actually felt impatient. She never felt more hurried in all her life. Sure she had those moments wishing one class would end quicker, but what normal teenager never felt that way? Astrid wanted the line to dissipate faster so she could get out of the library quickly. She didn't even care what the context of the book was. All that mattered was for her to take the book and go to Hermit for some answers. He had to come clean sooner rather than later.

"Astrid, yer next." Tantrum called out to the blonde. She quickly got out of her thoughts-the twelfth time that day-and walked down the front desk. Astrid then realized that she and Tantrum were the only ones inside the library.

"Yer friends already left," Tantrum explained, almost like she read Astrid's thoughts. "Most of them weren't happy being cooped up in here. Can't blame them really."

"You could always get a different job elsewhere you know." Astrid suggested.

Tantrum scowled. "Yeah, if my father wasn't being so-so, argh!" She slammed her hands on the desk, a small thump being heard seconds later. "I just want toh do one thing on my own fer once without dear old Dad telling me otherwise. Be grateful yer father allows yoo freedom, Astrid."

"Yer dad cares about yoo," Astrid replied, handing the book over. "All adults have a weird way of showing it, especially in a town like this."

"Ain't that the truth," Tantrum concurred. She looked at the book with her eyes squinting and pursed lips. The flaming redhead made the traditional 'no' gesture before handing it back to Astrid. "Put that where yoo found it and don't look fer it again."

Astrid was gobsmacked. "What? Why not?"

"This book isn't allowed to leave the library's premises."

"Isn't this supposed to be a **public** library? Yoo know a place where anyone can borrow a book an' keep it until the due date?"

"That book," Tantrum motioned toward the book's spine. "Has a red herring on the side. Any book with that symbol isn't allowed any removal from its location."

"Who came up with that dumb rule?" Astrid asked, exasperated.

"By order of the town council." Tantrum answered swiftly almost as though she had this conversation before.

Astrid was dumbfounded. "How can a book be banned if that damn thing is in the library?"

"No need to use language here."

"I'm jus' saying this whole thing sounds ridiculous."

"If yoo have a complaint, tell it to the council."

"Yoo mean Mayor Sköll? Because that's pretty much the whole council in a nutshell." Everyone knew that Sköll had the last say in everything. Arguing with him was out of the question. Sköll's word was law since everyone was too afraid to oppose him. But right now, Astrid didn't care for that. She was going to read the book in her hands and show it to Hermit. He had to see what she saw.

"Look," Astrid began in a softer voice. "I really, really, **really **need to check this book out. I heard what yoo said about this needing to stay in the library but please, please let me take it out this once. I promise I'll bring the book back when I'm done with it. Just this once bend the rules a little bit."

Tantrum looked at Astrid with a look that showed her usual embittered expression, yet held something else hidden. "Yoo really want the book that badly."

Astrid nodded, her stomach feeling heavier than rocks. "Yes, I do."

Tantrum glanced at the book in Astrid's hands before looking back at her again. "Don't think I ever seen yoo beg either."

Astrid forced her face to remain neutral before admitting, "Never wanted anything right now."

A small silence fell between the young and older adolescents. Both of them kept a steady gaze and never trailed their eyes off of one another. Neither one was the victor in this intense mental game. Only one would come out as the champion and claim the title of conquering hero for their own beliefs and-

"Fine yoo can take it. I always thought the rule was rubbish anyways."

….Or maybe Tantrum really didn't care for the same beliefs as Sköll. Clever girl.

Still Astrid felt hesitant and arched a brow. "Honestly?"

Tantrum nodded. "Aye. I hate the way Sköll thinks he owns and controls everything. He's more of a control freak than mah own father."

"So yoo'll let me have the book?" Astrid asked, hoping to change the delicate subject.

"Yes," Tantrum quickly grabbed Astrid's arm before speaking in a hushed tone. "Don't let anyone know what happened in here today. No one must know that I allowed this. I may not like Sköll, but I am afraid of what he could do to me and yoo should too. He's the sort of man that gets what he wants and does anything to keep it that way. Defying him is risky but I always wanted to punch that stupid grin off his bloody face. Be careful with that book, Astrid." Her gaze softened and for a brief moment her face appeared lovely. "I'd hate to see one of the kids I use to baby-sat get into trouble."

Astrid returned the stare in a similar matter, remembering the younger days of her youth. She remembered both the good… and the_** bad**_. She inwardly winced. "All right then. I promise I will bring this back as soon as I can."

"Yoo better." Tantrum warned though some teasing was still heard in her voice. Astrid gave the book back to Tantrum for her stamp only for the older girl to gently push it away. "The less noticeable marks on it, the better. Having a fresh stamp in the book will lead to questioning."

"Why, does the mayor look at these books often?"

The averted glance from Tantrum answered Astrid perfectly. No more words were spoken all the while Astrid walked off and made her way to the front doors. She turned around once to look at her former babysitter, in a silent manner of saying goodbye. Astrid unzipped her rucksack, placed the book inside, and walked out with the door swung right open.

* * *

_8/25/10_

_Today I did something unexpected. I borrowed a book in an effort to understand a boy better._

_-Astrid Hofferson_

Similar to the last entry it was lacking in detail, but it was blunt and to the point, just like the girl who penned it. Astrid leaned over at her desk to pull out the Book of Dragons and looked at its cover again.

"What sort of secrets are yoo hiding from me, Hermit?"

The cover of the book was the same as the wax dragon stamped from Hermit's letter.

* * *

**Q-A: **O.O Duh, duh, duh~! Quite the ending line huh? How is 'Hermit' going to explain that one to Astrid? I apologize for the bits of dialogue that sounded more like exposition than anything else. I swear by the power given to me as a writer; it will all be strengthened by real events to prove it. I might even pull a flashback in the story, who knows… well I do but you all can't know what's going to happen next or else it will be a spoiler. Though I will say this, the next chapter will focus on Hiccup again in his POV and a familiar face will be making an appearance again. ^-^

And yes, Harry Hartsliceson is my take on the Hairy Scary Librarian from the How To Train Your Dragon book series. XD The last name is based on the tamed dragons he owns called the Heartslicers, and they **do **live up to the name. 'Harry' did make a slight cameo in the _Going Down the Rabbit hole (again) _chapter when he was the teacher that dragged Camicazi and Snotlout away when they made trouble before the mayor's speech, if anyone remembers that.

Keep on Writin' and Rockin'

**(1) **Einarðr is Norse for bold. XD I figured that it would be less… anachronistic that way. XDD Not that ever stopped HTTYD before.


	8. The Cave: Part 1

**Q-A: **I failed to realize that I had coincidentally uploaded the last chapter on Halloween. I honestly did not realize this until after it was up. XP Pretty convenient if you ask me. The same goes that there is a _Mumford and Sons _song titled _The Cave _(which of course is the song for this chapter). *.* That works so well for me in this chapter that you have no idea. It's perfect!

**Disclaimer: **The story is mine, but none of the characters are. I WISH I was this good at creating my own characters. XD

* * *

**The Cave: Part 1**

_August 24, 2010~_

_Good late-afternoon journal,_

_It has certainly been quite a while since I last wrote something in you. In fact, it was probably twelve weeks since I last penned something inside of you. Thankfully that was not as long as the hiatus from years passed... Fine it was a break from you for thirty years, but I was in an emotional life crisis during that period of time. Though I cannot recall what caused the hysterics._

…_Probably not important. _

_Anyway I can tell already that you simply dying to know how my last few days have been. These last two days have been quite _different_ from normal._

_I believe that I have made a friend._

_Now hold the fanfare please whilst I announce what the great news is. I have made friends with a human. As implausible that sounds, I promise this is the upmost truth when I say I met a human girl (I am just as surprised as you must be) only the other day with her wandering around inside the castle. To say I was bewildered would be an understatement. There she was walking aimlessly through the halls, unsure of where she was heading and how she was going to find her way out. Believe me when I say I heard her talk some bits here and there about wanting to leave but could not because of a previous obligation for her to retrieve a misplaced ball. It was nice to see the girl had settled her priorities straight._

_Please note that the last line was meant to be taken sarcastically. I still find it incredible that someone would potentially risk their life for a silly little ball…_

Hiccup was scribbling away at his diary, retelling all of the events that took place in a few short hours ago. His mind and body still tingled from the excitement of it all. One of the first things he ever wished in his life had finally come true; he talked to someone from the outside. He genuinely talked to a girl and became her friend…

_Perhaps friend is too strong of a word. A confidant or ally could be more appropriate?_ Hiccup sighed. _Maybe asking Toothless about this wouldn't be such a bad idea after all._

Hiccup pushed himself away from his desk and then moved toward a window. Outside he could partially see the wide Norwegian Sea with its waves crashing along the steep cliffside. Hiccup was certain that if the drumtower's wall crumbled before him at that very instant, he would definitely fall into the ocean. The sky was a mix of orange and seashell pink with the clouds accumulating into a larger mass. A storm most likely was about to brew, and Hiccup was going to see a very odd sight from it soon enough.

_I bet __**she'll**__ be up there not too long from now; the one that Toothless mentioned to me. _Hiccup thought with an amused smile. Another event started to place near the window. The sight he beheld was the sun beginning its daily setting. With a sigh, Hiccup started removing his vest and shirt.

One of the many hassles Hiccup had to go through with every time before the Transformation was for him to take off clothing that would easily be torn to shreds. The Transformation always led to Hiccup's body enlarging in to the familiar reptilian form in which caused the fabric to break apart and leave him shirtless. Thankfully by some twist of fate the pants would be spared thanks to the additional excess of fabric used to stretch when Hiccup's dragon hide would come out. The idea came to him one night after his mother sowed a hole in his trousers for his tail. He wondered if pants could be altered to make way for an appendage, why not give more fabric to prevent further damage? It was a revolutionary solution that earned Hiccup praise from his mother. Valhallarama was quick to remind Stoick of how brilliant their son got from time to time, those moments especially made Hiccup's ears burn.

Time began to go swift once again as the sun meet the horizon, and twilight began to show its nightly head. The Transformation transpired typically with no problems this time around. Due to all of the excitement from yesterday Hiccup had forgotten to take off his shirt, which had lead to it ripping at the seams and leaving his already loose-fitting pants alone. This time around Hiccup made sure to not make that same mistake again.

_Good to see everything in order here._ Hiccup looked over at his half broken mirror. The looking glass (or better yet he) was tall enough for him to see his body from head to toe-talon. _Nothing out of the ordinary here._

THUMP!

_Well not anymore at least. _

Hiccup smiled wearily toward his fellow Night Fury, who sauntered into the room with a proud look. Hiccup fought the urge to roll his eyes. It was common knowledge for him to note that dragons were known to be vain and proud of themselves (not that he would ever tell that directly to Toothless' face of course).

"**You look like you're in a good mood tonight." **Hiccup said to Toothless.

The Night Fury bared his teeth in to a large grin. **"I had a good day back at the cave. Guess who finally showed up Hookfang for being a show-off?"**

Teasingly Hiccup feigned ignorance. He scratched his chin, pondering. **"Do I wonder; could it have been that acquaintance of yours eh-Meatlug was it?"**

Toothless snorted with a grimace. **"Me of course, you silly Ground-Lover."**

"**I do like being on the ground, thank you very much. I was only teasing. I knew you've been wanting to fight Hookfang for weeks now." **

"**It wasn't much of if it lasts for half a Shot Recovery." **Toothless stated with an eye roll.

Hiccup hummed in understanding.

Dragons did not (usually) track time in the same matter as humans with wound-clocks or a handmade calendar that Hiccup made for himself once. No, dragons rarely count the days or minutes in their existence since they tended to live for long periods of time that exceeded the puny lifespan of a mere person. But for those rare moments that did need some form of an event to be counted for, dragons would monitor the time it took for their inner flames to return after using their shot limit. Since Toothless' time to recover his shot limit, along with other firebreathers, took about five minutes in human time it meant that his fight with Hookfang only lasted about half of that.

"**Did you get hurt?" **Hiccup looked over at his friend, concerned for his well being at the moment. Toothless was a risk-taker half of the time. When his mind became set on something, Toothless would see that he would finish what he started.

Toothless shook his head. **"Naw, I'm fine. I think Hookfang got it worse though. His poor ego got bruised big time." **He growled a hearty chortle.

Hiccup sighed. **"One of these days you'll get yourself killed for your cocky attitude and where would that leave me?"**

Toothless stopped laughing long enough to smile at Hiccup and offered, **"There's still the idea that I brought up before."**

"**No." **Hiccup's response was quick. **"I won't agree to it."**

The normal shaped Night Fury sighed before frowning slightly at his friend. Toothless opened his mouth to make a witty retort when he spotted something wrapped along the dragon boy's head. **"What's that you got there on your head?"**

Hiccup nearly froze on the spot. He had completely forgotten about the bandages he placed on his head subsequently after Valkyrie's departure. Due to the haste construction the white bands weren't Hiccup's best work and did little to soothe the back of his head.

Nervously Hiccup looked at anything wasn't Toothless. **"Oh, um, I hit my head earlier today when I tripped over a loose board." **

Hiccup instinctively moved his hand to scratch his head but quickly decided against it. He prayed silently to both the Christian and Norse Gods in hope that somehow Toothless would believe the fib.

The Night Fury ducked his head to the side with his eyes widened in inquiry. His nostrils flared when he picked up a new scent on Hiccup.

"**You smell different. Smells like something sweet." **Toothless quirked to one side; his curiosity growing all the more with these unexpected discoveries.

_Yeah, very sweet._ Hiccup's mind trailed off to the scented hard ball and brash Valkyrie. He inwardly shook his head. He couldn't think of **that **right now.

"**It must have been from that new… plant that I found earlier today." **Hiccup replied. He was internally beating himself for making up more lies to his only friend in his small, empty world.

Toothless narrowed his eyes for a moment before replying, **"Okay, then."**

"**Okay." **Hiccup echoed uncertainly.

"**Fine enough for me." **Toothless replied before waddling toward the desk. He bumped his nose gently at one of the legs. **"I think you still owe me that picture-thingy of me, right?"**

_He sure let go of that one easily._ Hiccup thought mildly at first before his worries eventually set in. If there was one thing Hiccup knew about his friend Toothless, was that he never lets things go without a fight.

This time the fight would last much longer than half a Shot Recovery.

* * *

The remainder of the evening went along quietly. Hiccup had finished Toothless' portrait before sunrise with enough time for the Night Fury to return back to the cave. The cave that Toothless had mentioned before was where the dragons of Berkenshire lived. There was no secret island or a lost city beneath the ocean, just a long forgotten series of tunnels deep underground where the large reptiles called home. It was the very same place Toothless had been failing at tempting Hiccup to go with him. Hiccup knew Toothless meant well, but there was one part in the back of his mind that insisted for him to remain at Haddock Castle. Most of it had to do with the promise he made with his parents, and the other was the fear of not being accepted by the wild dragons. Oh, and there was the whole idea that the dragons would probably roast him alive if they ever found out about his dueling half-human self. That would be bad.

The rest of the early morning was devoted to Hiccup sleeping the precious hours he missed from spending time with Toothless. He wished there was some way he could teach the concept of time to his friend. He'll most likely have to work on that in the future. Hiccup was so exhausted from the previous evening that he barely stirred when the Transformation returned him back to his human form. By around early afternoon Hiccup did eventually roused from his slumber, waking with his head splitting into another headache and the half of his room in a mess.

_And so we start off today with a welcoming sight. _Hiccup occupied himself while shuffling a few loose papers that fell from the desk. He continued cleaning the discord that befell his bedroom. With his mind now set on cleaning, Hiccup continued with his chores around the castle. After acquiring a few bits of produce from the garden, a slice of kitchen-made honey-bread, and a kindly donated fish recently given from Toothless, Hiccup had a short lunch along with some well water for a drink. The day being surprisingly sunny; Hiccup decided to venture out into the garden again to sit aloft in the apple tree. He had been on that old tree plenty of times before to know how safe it was. The tree was so safe and secure that Hiccup only had to fall two feet this time around instead of the usual three when he would rest upon the weeping willow.

_Damn my fumbling feet. _Hiccup cursed. _Must I always be a blunder at everything I do?_ He wiped his bottom of the dirt and fallen leaves. He heaved out a sigh while inspecting the branches to see if his food remained where he fell off. All of the food was still resting on the branch.

Hiccup frowned. "The gods and Lord above hate me. It all makes perfect sense now." He spread his arms slightly before sighing again. "Most people my age have to suffer with pubescent mood swings or bodily disfigurement across the face, but not me. I have turn into a dragon-human thing and never age forever!" Instantly Hiccup covered his mouth, berating himself for shouting. He wasn't certain if someone heard him or not… but with the alarming number of people apparently slogging up to his estate Hiccup did not wish to take any chances.

He was still getting use to the idea of one human knowing that he lived in the castle; he couldn't have the rest of the village marching up.

_Like in mobs…great big-No, I am not thinking those dangerous thoughts._ Hiccup berated himself again. His mind started to wonder if Valkyrie would keep her word and come back. _ I will trust Valkyrie and hope for the best. Just as long as she doesn't bring a mob here either._

* * *

The rest of the afternoon followed with no unexpected visits, much to Hiccup's relief and slight depression. A part of him wanted Valkyrie to return again. She did promise to see him until his injury recovered. He did question exactly how long his bruise would last and how many visits in between Valkyrie might make. He shook his head after closing the door to his cleaned room. Hiccup knew dwelling on those sorts of thoughts was dangerous business. Despite the insufferable attitude emitting from the blonde girl, Hiccup did miss her company. She was the first visitor in at least two hundred years.

Exactly 200 years had passed since Haddock Castle had visitors.

That demoralizing thought rightfully made Hiccup feel old. His depression evaporated just when he heard a familiar thump at his tower's wall. Quickly Hiccup hurried over toward the window's ledge to see if he really wasn't imagining it all. To his befuddled surprise Toothless was climbing across the wall, scaling the wall just as he would walking across the floor. He beamed toward Hiccup his namesake before climbing all the way up and plopped down to the floor.

_Well I guess this would count as an unexpected visit._ Hiccup could not remember the last time he seen Toothless in the daylight.

"**I couldn't wait," **Toothless said as though he was reading Hiccup's mind. **"What happened during that storm the other night was so amazing!" **

Praying to every religious entity that his Dragonese was still translatable as a human Hiccup stammered, _"Okey woz_ sna?** (1)**"_  
_

Hiccup meant to have said, 'Oh, was it?' but had mistakenly said 'Okay was it's not.'

Dragonese was a language much older than any human tongue Hiccup would ever learn to speak. The trick to decipher Dragonese all came from hearing the words spoken between the growls in a dragon's voice. Mostly dragons had excellent hearing, allowing them to hear the vowels being uttered. When Hiccup became his bi-pedal dragon form at night, his hearing was hypersensitive to a dragon's thus allowing him to understand Toothless. Now that didn't mean Hiccup couldn't understand his friend at the moment, it only meant that interpreting the near-silent words in Toothless' growling was more of a challenge.

Toothless' plates perked up in confusion. He was a little unsettled by the odd choice of words Hiccup had said. It reminded him of the first day he was teaching the dragon-boy to speak his tongue all over again. Knowing how to be patient with his friend Toothless nodded.

"**Yeah, Stormfly did this thing in the air and maneuvered around to avoid the lightning strikes and the Thunder-chasers. You should've seen it."**

Toothless was slow with his words and paused between each syllable.

Hiccup was grateful.

"_O-o-h, yow coglet-horra__Storm-__**fly**__…_**got caught up with some Skrills huh? Well I was too busy sleeping to notice any of that." **Hiccup replied, silently relieved he could hear Toothless properly again. All he needed was to focus more on the dragon and nothing else. **"And here I thought you hated thunderstorms." **

A soft growl was uttered from the Night Fury. **"I **_**don't**_**. I just… happen to prefer being on the ground for once when that happens."**

Hiccup fought the urge to roll his eyes at Toothless' weak excuse.

"**The storm ended last night so I decided to come and see you now since I couldn't wait."**

"**Wow, I have never had a friend brave the horrors of the daytime for me." **

"**Ha, ha, keep up with the sarcasm why don't ya?" **

Hiccup chuckled. He was starting to feel glad that Toothless came to see him until…

"**So, about the offer of going to the cave with me-"**

"_Nee-ah-_**No." **Came Hiccup's swift answer. He was not going to have this conversation again.

"**You didn't let me finish." **Toothless whined.

"**We're not talking about this, Toothless. I do not need to go. I am perfectly fine here."**

"**Are you the one that's saying that, or is it your father's rule?" **That stung a little to Hiccup. **"You can't just live the life your parent laid out for you."**

"**I am not living what **_mi-_**my father told me to do," **Hiccup snapped, his tone rising above its usual tenor. He heaved a sigh, walked over to the trapdoor opening the lid and climbing down the steps. **"It does not matter. What happened between my parents and I is none of your concern."**

"**Then why are you avoiding the obvious truth?" **Toothless poked his head through the door, shouting at Hiccup's retreating form.

Hiccup was getting more irritated by the minute but stubbornly ignored the dragon and continued climbing. He finally finished stepping down the ridiculously long ladder and planted his feet on solid ground. When started to walk out of the tower, his presence was bombarded with a glowering Night Fury.

"_Woh fix yow…" _Hiccup trailed off, almost asking how did Toothless followed until he remembered, _Dummy. He's a dragon that can _fly _in the air and is incredibly fast. _

"**That was not funny." **The dragon hissed with narrowing eyes.

"_Hoody-_**Who said I was trying to be funny? And I am not avoiding anything. I am perfectly fine here." **That was a complete lie, but Hiccup wasn't going to let Toothless know that. **"I feel safe here. I have been living in this castle for all of my life."**

"**But how long can that last?" **Toothless asked thoughtfully. **"Humans will want to go inside this castle **_**eventually**_**, Hiccup." **

_Are you so right about that one. _The cursed boy though miserably. He and Toothless walked along side by side before finding themselves in the main hall.

"**Someday you'll have to find somewhere else to live." **The dragon sighed wistfully before he continued.

"**I can still remember how dragons once lived on land. My kind can't do that anymore thanks to humans growing in both packs and strength. You can't hide here forever, one of these days a human might just tumble inside and see you as a dragon." **

_Again with him being so spot on. _Hiccup inwardly sighed. He had no other choice but to coax his friend with a false sense of security.

**"Please, no sane human would come anywhere near this castle. Even if all the houses in the village burned down and this was the last place for them to all live in."**

As if on cue, those words Hiccup just said were completely contradicted.

KNOCK-KNOCK!

Toothless' fin plates sunk. **"What was that?" **

Hiccup felt his heartbeat quicken. **"I am not a hundred percent certain of what it might be." **

The knocking commenced once more, with Hiccup's heart plummeting toward a deep abyss.

Through the smallest of cracks in the wooden doors, the sound of a familiar voice was heard. "Hermit, are yoo in there?"

And now Hiccup's vital organs fell to the abysmal through a large splat.

Toothless' eyes narrowed. **"That sounds like a human." **

"**Let us not jump into any conclusions now." **Hiccup struggled to form the next excuse when Valkyrie knocked at the door a fourth time. **"I'll go check it out, you just stay. Put. There. J-g-you know what I mean." **He gave Toothless a stern look to show how serious he was. Silently-reluctantly-Hiccup walked over toward the door and creaked it open ever-so-slighty to see Valkyrie standing barely a yard away.

Hiccup cursed under his breath.

"I know yer in there." Valkyrie stated as a matter of fact. She titled her head with her eyes staring straight at Hiccup's. "I can see yoo looking at me right now."

"Eh-heh. Valkyrie, hello, Valkyrie, greetings, Valkyrie, hello there… Valkyrie."

There was a slight pause between them before Valkyire said, "Yeah there something we need toh talk about. **Now**."

_Oh, the gods in all cosmic forces do indeed hate me. _"Uh-um, yes I would gladly talk with you anytime," as he said that Hiccup noticed in the far horizon the sun was beginning to drop.

_Oh Fate, such a cruel mistress. _"Actually I inexplicably just became very busy and cannot entertain for today." Hiccup was ready to close the door when Valkyrie stuck her foot between, blocking the door's path from the threshold.

"There have been something odd going on around in Berkenshire since after I met you, Hermit."

"**It's a **_**human?" **_Toothless' cry of alarm could be heard even from where Hiccup stood. **"I can see its foot."**

Hiccup's heart was beating in time with each breath he took. Beads of sweat were already pouring down near his brow. He was in between two dangerous ends. One end involving his most loyal friend figuring out the truth in the worst way possible and the other one looking like she was ready to go hunting... hunting for a soon to be transformed dragon-boy.

"**That is it. Fear or no fear, I am not taking no for an answer this time." **Toothless declared before charging to where Hiccup stood. The Night Fury grabbed a hold of Hiccup's tunic that was starting to feel rather tight on the boy as the Transformation was closing in on him.

"I mean it." Valkyire insisted oblivious of the silent struggling going on in front of her. "Normally I don't care what people do around if it doesn't directly involve me, but they're something strange that I can't get my mind off of it and yer in the middle of it."

As if adding lemon juice to the wound Toothless tugged on Hiccup again, making the poor boy jerk slightly to the ground. He looked at his hand momentarily and started to see black talons replacing his regular thumbnails.

Valkyire gave him a wary look before rightfully adding, "Or yoo're the cause of it."

"**Heave-"**

_Please don't. _Hiccup closed his eyes in fear.

"**-ho." **One last pull and Hiccup was now being helplessly dragged away by Toothless. The Night Fury ignored the slowly transforming dragon-boy's yelps and pleads as he started off to another room with a window facing the sea.

Hiccup felt shame in his defeat while the Transformation was finally rearing its ugly head upon himself. **"I hope you're happy now, you useless reptile."**

"**I will be once I take ya back to the cave." **With his snout, Toothless opened the window, opening agust of the ocean breeze that wafted across Hiccup's face. Even when being held upside-down Hiccup could see Toothless spreading his wings once he was perched on the window ledge.

_Oh, the Gods indeed hate me, _was all Hiccup thought as his Transformation was nearly completed and Toothless began to flap his wings into the twilight.

* * *

**Q-A: **Been a while since I updated a week after another chapter. Or at least it feels like it. XD With exams coming up for me I believed you all deserved a special treat. I have no idea what will be in store for me these next two weeks but please bear and POSSIBLY give me encouragement for my exams? I REALLY don't want to screw up with these so pray to Odin with me and everything will be ok. Sadly I can't say the same for Hiccup though.

Poor boy his relationship with Toothless won't be the same again. And his relationship with Astrid/Valkyrie was already walking on broken glass. What will happen next?

**(1) **And for those of you who are wondering, YES those few times Hiccup slipped when speaking Dragonese is same Dragonese humans speak when talking to dragons in the novels. I found an official Dragonese Dictionary on the how to train your dragon book website for _Dragonese Day _(yes that actually exists apparently).

Keep on Writin' and Rockin'


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